Detroit's Assassin's
by Diana Silverblood
Summary: From the time Connor, Markus, and the rest are thrown into the lives of the Assassin's; the world goes from having sense to slowly spiraling down into logical nonsense. At least, that is what they tell themselves. The truth is about to come out, a cult will rise, and the Assassin's and Templars will have to make a truce that will shatter the shadowed war of decades
1. Dedication & AN

**Small Dedication**

 _This story goes out to all of the fans of both Detroit: Become Human and Assassin's Creed. I thank everyone in the Connor Army for being awesome and wonderful people, and the ones who were nice enough to listen to me talk out my ideas even though you may have had no idea what I was talking about._

 **This is a small note, for people who want to wave a red flag.**

 **I do NOT** own the plot or the characters of Detroit: Become Human nor of Assassin's Creed, they belong to their respective owners of Quantic Dream (Detroit Become Human) and Ubisoft (Assassin's Creed).

Although, I do own the overall plot of this story and _my_ original characters.


	2. Part 1

**•~A Revolution That Fits~•**

 **We must never give up the fight. The minute we do, we have lost.**

 **~ Ezio Auditore**


	3. Chapter 1: The Mission

**2038 November 5th**

 **8:05:24 PM**

 **THE DOORS OPENED** to the rotunda, decorated enough to be practical and know their standing. White banners with the Assassin's symbol in the middle hanged on either side of the brown brick walls, a bigger and larger one hanging on the back wall.

The female that entered in scanned her surroundings with blue eyes as she walked forward, the birch colored wood made a slight creaking noise as she swiftly made her way across, reminding her of the oldness of this place. The female walked to the center where the forward facing wood turned into a circle, the wood now lighter, almost white color.

A few feet away before her sat a large desk set in a semicircle fashion made of heavy oak. There sat in the middle was a man, his face hidden by his hood. "Good evening, Mentor."

"Good evening Aleria." The man in white clothes responded formally. He wore a loose, white button up shirt under a white coat, as she couldn't see much, other than his brown-skinned hands and black peppered beard from under the hood.

"You called, me for a mission?" Aleria questioned, and the Mentor nodded. "I know it is odd, meeting here, but the mission is personal, and I want to make sure no one else knows other than the selective people I have chosen."

"And those people are?" Aleria questioned with curiosity, and the Mentor chuckled. "I haven't even told you the mission yet, have patience in that area." He then stood up, placing his hands behind his back, "follow me, Kheién:'a." the Mentor commanded calmly, turning to walk towards the back of the medium sized room.

Aleria quickly went around the desk and jogged to catch up to him. The Mentor waited patiently for her though for her to catch up, and when she came to a stop next to him, he continued his way down to the back. The two of them walked together, the Mentor pushing down on an indent in the wall that made a small wall of bricks move away, revealing a dark tunnel beyond.

The Mentor walked in first as the fluorescent lights above in the stone hallway flickered on, and Aleria followed after. They walked in silence for a few moments, and then Aleria sighed, "do you not have to go soon?"

"Yes," the Mentor answered as he stopped walking and turned to Aleria, "I'm just trying to make this long as possible." He smiled sadly, and Aleria gave one back to match his own. Then the two continued to walk down the hallway, reaching to a set of stairs that lead up to a set of large and heavy metal doors at the end.

Aleria pulled it open, then pushed the crates to the side that blocked the door, then she backed away to let the Mentor through before her, and together they stepped into the chilly air of the dark back alley. The Mentor looked back to the run-down warehouse, almost marveling at its broken bricks and graffiti.

"It's amazing, this building," the Mentor wistfully commented, running his hand across the faded red bricks. "Under this building hides an age old organization, with people who are willing to pay the price of blood on their hands, and for what? For the name of freedom, some would chant, or family, others would say, whatever these people come looking for, they seem to always find it, one way or another." The Mentor talked to particularly no one, but Aleria listened carefully, taking in each word he said.

When the Mentor became quiet, Aleria had a moment to think, and something clicked in her mind, "does this have something to do about Jericho?" She asked, and the Mentor paused, looking forward for a moment before turning his body back around to look at Aleria.

"Yes, the mission...Lucy sent a message to me to send you and Hope back to Jericho early, she feels something is about to change."

"Did she go into detail about that feeling?"

"When does Lucy ever go into detail about her feelings?" The Mentor questioned back with a smile, one that Aleria matched. "Well, then, did she say anything else about the mission?"

"No, of course not, it's for your knowledge only, you know that it was you and Hope that wanted to create Jericho, not I or anyone else."

"I know, I was just hoping for a heads up or something, an idea of what to expect."

"Every Assassin would love a heads up, would make our lives easier." The Mentor chuckled, placing a hand on Aleria's shoulder. "Yes, for once I would like an easy mission, is that so hard to ask?" Aleria smiled, but it was quickly chased away as she heard the patter of feet and the android approach them.

"Hello Mentor, I have packed your things, we should really leave now." The female stated urgently, her hands placed behind her back. "Ah, Chloe...alright, I will be there, just...let me say my final farewell." The Mentor smiled weakly, and Chloe gave a sad smile to him, then faced Aleria, who started back with a blank expression, feeling as if she was staring into a mirror and her past was staring back. The only physical difference between them was Aleria's mahogany hair that made her slightly feel like a far-off different person from the other.

Though the android in front of her wore white like the Mentor so she could stand out, a stark difference to Aleria, who wore her white long sleeve shirt under a dark grey jacket made of a slick material, a row of silver buttons adorning it, the back dipping down her knees of two tailcoats. The pants she wore were a form-fitting black leather, and the boots were also worn and simple black leather but tied with white laces.

"Good Day, Assassin Aleria." Chloe greeted, trying to give the Aleria a smile, but the assassin only gave a nod of acknowledgment to the ST200. The Mentor noticed this and looked at Chloe, "go ahead and start the car, I will be there soon."

"Yes, Mentor," Chloe answered, turning her head to look at the Mentor, then she glanced back at Aleria before turning and walking away. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't feel like this, I wanted to become an Assassin, but...I can't help but feel replaced." Aleria sighed, turning to look at the Mentor, who sighed also. "You are far from replaced, Aleria, far from it, I will always remember you, and look forward to the next time I'll be in Detroit," He stated, now standing in front of Aleria, both of his hands on her shoulders.

The Mentor then reached up to clip off a necklace, then reaching out to take Aleria's hand to place the necklace into hers. "No, I can't take this…" Aleria mourned, trying to give the necklace back, but the Mentor stepped back, rejecting the return. "I know, it was my mothers, but I want to pass it on to you."

"But what about…"

"I love them, but they have disowned me, they want nothing to do with me or the Creed." He interrupted, and Aleria solemnly took the necklace. Aleria walked over and hugged him, "thank you, Mentor."

"Keep faith, Aleria, good luck in whatever is to come," the Mentor sighed, then hugged Aleria tight before putting her at arm's length. "I selected a few people to help you, they are awaiting you in the offices." The Mentor spoke softly, and then he smiled, "remember what you fight for." He then whispered, letting one arm fall back to his side, "farewell, Aleria."

"Farewell, rake'níha..." Aleria mourned, and then he gave a sad smile before turning and walking away. Aleria looked down at the necklace, which was a simple silver chain with the Creed symbol made of mosaic opal lined with silver. She used the silver clasp to put on the necklace, then she hid it under her jacket before returning to the door, moving the crates back in front of it. Then Aleria closed the door, silently making her way down the hall. 

**0000000000000000000**

 **HOPE WALKED NEXT** to Mabel, who was willing to walk with her to meet Aleria. Though, from the looks of things, it looked as if Mabel was about to file in a report, as she wore a blue stained grey shirt and a white lab coat with darker blotches on her black jeans. The only thing that seemed to not be affected by whatever mishap was her worn down white tennis shoes, as it was still the same wearing down white.

"What do you think it is?" Hope questioned aloud, looking ahead and putting her hands into her pants pockets. Hope shrugged with a smile while her pale skinned pianist hands messed with a strand of her red crimson hair, "don't know, Allie probably knows, or maybe you know and you just don't wanna tell me." Then Hope gave a playful accusatory glance towards Mabel, who rolled her eyes in a mock, but playful way. "I solemnly swear I have no idea why the Mentor called on you to help with whatever is going on."

Mabel shouldered open the double paned window door open to the office, which was small, only holding twenty office rooms available to use, only ten owned by Assassin level people, and as Hope expected, Mabel went to the one with her name tag in big letters on the side of the grey felt divider of 'Mabel Ripley'.

Though Hope was surprised, to say the least, to see Mabel's sister, Alexandra, sitting there in one of the other chairs in the small space flipping a small throwing knife in her hand. When they walked up, Alexandra looked up and stuck her knife back into her boot and stood up. Of course, Hope was always felt a little confused by their likeness, as they were identical twins in every physical way.

They both had light brown hair with big, round silvery eyes and light fair skin. The only way to tell them apart was what they wore and their accent, Mabel had a weaker British accent than Alexander, who in the current moment, wore an oversized green sweater, black skinny jeans, and black knee-high leather boots. Though, of course, two brown leather hilts of knives stuck out in the boots, and the weapons belt at her side holding a concealed glock and an old kukri knife in a black sheath.

"What happened? I heard about the android you saved." Alexandra questioned, her eyes following her sister. Though Hope watched Mabel flabbergasted as she watched the calm woman sit down in her desk chair and turn on her computer. "Wait, when did this happen?"

"Where have you been? On standby? Everyone is talking about it."

"Well, obviously not, 'cause I have no clue what you are talking about." Hope shot back, surprise edging in her voice. "It was not a big deal," Mabel started as she also started to type up her report. "When I went to go meet one of my sellers for android parts, I passed by a group of thugs beating up this android, in short, those men learned a lesson and that android is safe and fixed."

"Has the android left?" Hope questioned expectantly, as there were not many androids in the Assassins, so a new addition would make her ecstatic. "No, but he hasn't spoken much either, it looks like he might stay, but I gave him the option to leave, so we'll see." Mabel shrugged, and Alexander sighed, "ah, I thought it would've been more exciting since people are talking about it." Mabel spun her seat around to face her sister as she and Hope replied in unison, "no one's talking about it."

Alexandra raised her hands in mock surrender as she sat back down, letting Mabel turn back to her work and for Hope to let out a silent chuckle. "Sorry for trying to make you feel good about yourself."

"Then say "good job" next time."

"But that's so stupid and generic." Alexandra shot back, and that is what started their sibling bickering for the day. Though Hope didn't get to settle into her amusement for long as she felt a tap on her shoulder. Hope turned and saw Aleria standing there, looking past her with amusement for a moment before settling her focus back onto Hope.

"Let's talk somewhere else," Aleria whispered, and Hope gave a nod before the two wandered off, settling into an empty and unmarked office. "So, how'd the goodbye go?" Hope asked gently, and Aleria let out a slow breath as she sat down in the seat. "It wasn't a goodbye, it was a farewell, but to answer your question, it went fine." Hope quickly scanned her over with bright green eyes as she sat across from her and gave an encouraging smile.

"Well, past that, what's the mission?"

"We're going back to Jericho early, personally, I think Lucy had a vision."

"You really think that? She very rarely gets them randomly, you know."

"I know that, but I was told that she said she felt like things are changing, that has to mean she had a vision." Aleria reasoned, looking down at her hands as if she was trying to convince herself of the same thing. "Well, I guess we will figure it out once we get there, huh?" Hope smiled, leaning against the wall, and Aleria let out a breathless chuckle as she looked back up at her.

"I've learned one thing since joining the Assassin's, is that we never have something go easy for us." Aleria chuckled, and Hope threw her head back in laughter, "Of course not, nothing even in the word "assassin" sounds easy." Aleria and Hope looked at each other for a moment, Hope looked for expectantly for guidance while Aleria looked on to try and delay the inevitable.

"Well, shall we get started?" Aleria finally questioned to break the silence between them as she stood, and Hope smiled. "Yes, we shall," Hope responded, taking long strides to stand next to Aleria and bump her shoulder with hers.

"The mission is effective immediately," Aleria stated, looking back at Hope with a smile, "take what you can carry, we leave in an hour." At that, Hope was off with Aleria walking behind so they could prepare for the long road ahead of them.

 _*Sound Off the Sirens by Sam Tinnesz plays*_


	4. Chapter 2: Introductions

**2038 November 5th**

 **9:30:** _00_ **PM**

 **HOPE AND ALERIA** walked out of the warehouse after Hope told her goodbyes and Aleria told her farewells. They walked through crowds to blend into, but soon it thinned out as it turned dark. By then, Hope and Aleria took back alleys to avoid trouble. Then Hope grumbled as it started to rain, she pulled her hood up over her head as Aleria walked beside her amused. "So, you dislike the rain?" Aleria joked, knowing what her answer will be.

"I like the sound of it just fine, but put me in the middle of it? No thanks." Hope grumbled, which caused Aleria chuckle as she lingered behind. Aleria followed Hope through dark and wet alleys as they wanted to avoid people walking around late at night. "Let's just go to that motel over there and go to Jericho in the morning, it's not like we are going to assassinate anyone tonight." Hope reasoned, leaning against the entrance of an alleyway while looking at the neon sign that read _Eastern Motel_.

"Well, I guess you're right, I see no harm in it, let's go."

"Thank you, Aleria, I hate feeling like a thief in the night to innocent people," Hope mumbled, pushing herself off the wall and making her way towards their new destination. Aleria smiled as she followed, glad at the idea to be out of the rain, even for a little bit. Not only that, glad to see Hope happy about something for the moments they had for now.

They walked to the doors and softly pushed them open, the two of them being met by both semi-loud gospel music and a man behind the receptionist desk. Hope looked around, hoping to see if there was a sign that the man was a supporter of the Assassin's, though she struggled for one. Aleria calmly walked up, her own eyes scanning behind him, though neither found any inkling of him being a supporter.

"Hello sir, we need a room for tonight, we'll be gone by morning."

"All right, I have one for you, it will be forty dollars up front." The man stated, and Aleria gave a strained smile. She took out forty, but then added twenty more, "please, tell no one we are here." Aleria whispered, giving a pleading look. The man looked alarmed by that, looking up at Hope, who feigned a hopeless look on her face as she fiddled with her fingers.

"All right, but whoever is after you comes, I'm not risking my life for you."

"Thank you," Aleria breathed, then shook her head, "don't risk it, that's the last thing we want to do, what room are you willing to give?"

"Room twenty-nine, first door up the stairs, here's your keycard." The man sighed, sliding over a card. Aleria and Hope thanked the man again and again until he waved them off. "Go, I never seen either of you, leave your key in the room, I hope you get to wherever you're heading to." The man stated with sincerity, it almost made Aleria feel bad for tricking the man, though, instead, she nodded and they said their goodbyes.

Aleria and Hope walked out of the motel lobby doors, Hope holding the door Aleria before following. But then the two paused at the sight of a young woman holding a little girls hand.

"Oh, sorry, we'll get out of your way." Hope quickly apologized, followed by Aleria's quick sorry. "No, it's okay, we don't have the money to even stay here, sorry to be in your way." She answered back, timidly backing away, holding onto the little girl.

"Nonsense," Hope announced, taking out their shared wallet from her own back pocket. "Here, take it, rooms on us." She finished, holding out the forty dollars to the woman, who slowly took it like a timid animal. "But I have one request, what is your name?" Hope questioned, and it took the woman a few moments to think on this question.

"My...my name is Kara, and this is Alice." Kara stuttered, giving a questionable glance to the smiling woman in front of her. "Thank you, this means...everything." Kara thanked, and Hope gave a single nod, "of course, just get the little girl into a warm room, have a good night, Kara." Then the two of them disappeared into the lobby to get their room as the two other androids quickly made it to their room. They sought out room number twenty-nine on the second floor, which was a slight disadvantage if they needed a quick escape.

But Aleria put that thought aside as they entered their room and flicked the light switch on. It was nice; the room was like any other room of a semi-cheap motel; it had two twin sized beds set against one wall, both equal distance apart and wall mounted, red lamps hanged near them. A TV right across from that sat on a stand, a closed door that probably leads to a bathroom, and between the two beds hung a rectangle painting of an old ship sailing a stormy sea.

Aleria sat down on one of the beds as Hope went over to pick up the TV remote to turn it on. Hope plopped down on the other bed, changing the channels, but settling on the news. "Remind me, why did you want to get a room again?" Aleria asked, looking towards Hope. "The rain is annoying, if it's still raining tomorrow it will be too soon." Hope grumbled as pulled on her damp dark grey tank top under a black hooded leather jacket and equally damp dark blue skinny jeans with a white belt looped around her waist. At that, Aleria barked a laugh.

"It probably will now that you have said that." Aleria chuckled, and Hope let out an irritable sigh. "Well, getting away from the subject of rain, what did you think of that woman with the little girl?" Hope then asked, starting off with a grumble that turned into chorable words.

Aleria hummed in thought, "definitely an android, both of them, why do you ask?"

"They need help."

"We can't help them though, all we can give them is money, but even then we need some for ourselves, you never know." Aleria reasoned, but Hope sighed and Aleria gave a sympathetic smile. "You can't protect everyone you meet on the street."

"Yeah, you're right, I can't, but I like trying." Hope snapped back, and silence fell between the two. Eventually, Aleria apologized, "but there is nothing we can do for them, we need to go to Jericho."

"I know..." Hope trailed as she was taking off one of her leather-bound Hidden Shock Blade before standing up and placing it on the desk in the room. "I just feel like I need to." Hope finished, turning to Aleria, who looked back with understanding. Aleria stood up and went over to Hope to pull her into a hug, and Hope hugged back. "Whatever choice you make, I'll respect it," Aleria whispered, then she pulled back to see Hope giving a confused look. "Are you giving me your blessing to go with them if I wanted to? Allie, you are a blessing in this dark and bleak world."

"Thanks, I don't try." Aleria laughed, causing Hope to bark out a laugh. "Well, do what you please, I will take first focused watch to make sure no one odd comes by, though I doubt it." Aleria informed, and Hope nodded. Hope then took her place back on the bed while she took off her other regular blade along with a blade sharpener from one of her pockets in her jacket. "I don't plan to go into standby anytime soon, so whatever you want." Hope told in a shrugging tone after a moment of thought, then Aleria started to take off her Hidden Blades, placing her white, magnesium plated gauntlet on the desk and a regular blade on the desk.

"It's fun being an android, no sleep, and nights like these are long and boring with a question of what to do." Aleria spoke aloud with sarcasm, and Hope chuckled in response. "Right? But...do you not feel like something is about to happen too?" Hope responded wistfully, and Aleria sighed, "yeah, I was hoping it was just me." She flopped on the bed next to Hope, who turned her body to face Aleria, but continue with her blade sharpening. "But let's not think about that, we will see once we get to Jericho." Aleria told quickly before Hope could say another word.

Hope sighed, then mumbled, "I guess I'll go on standby, poke me if you need me." Then Hope got up to toss her things on the dresser and kicked off her ankle high biker boots before flopping back down on the bed on her back and flipping the hood over her head.

Now it was Aleria's turn to sigh, sitting there wondering why she agreed to stay here. Aleria got up to check out the window, peeking through the closed blinds to only to see nothing but the dark road lit up by streetlights. She then went back to her bed and sat down with a huff, then she rubbed her forehead.

 _Tonight was going to be a long night, oh the wonders of being an android._

 **00000000000000**

 **2038 November 6th**

 **10:25:** _04_ **AM**

Aleria blinked her eyes open her eyes, and the first thing she saw was Hope hovering over her that blocked her sight of the ceiling. "I thought you said you were gonna watch out just in case someone came?" Hope questioned nonchalantly, and Aleria huffed a chuckle as she sat up, causing Hope to stand straight. "It became boring after a while staring at a wall for hours upon hours."

"There's a tv."

"There was nothing interesting on!" Aleria exasperated, throwing her hands in the air. Hope barked a laugh and saw that the news was on. Aleria made a disgusted noise, rolling her eyes as she stood up.

"Really? The news?" Aleria commented, and Hope hummed her affirmative. "Was curious about what's going on right now, but we told that man we would leave in the morning, so I'll turn it off." Hope responded in a shrugging tone, then she went to pick up the remote, but the next thing that came on made her pause.

"Thanks, Michael, I'm joined by Corktown resident Todd Williams, who was violently attacked by his AX-four-hundred around eleven PM last night." The newsman told, which caught Aleria's attention as she went to go pick up one of her blades to check it to pass the time.

"Todd, can you tell us what happened?"

"I was having dinner, I was minding my own business. Damn thing jumped on me, managed to defend myself but it went crazy, I thought it was gonna to kill me, so I fought it off and it ran away." The man named Todd responded, and Hope scoffed, "he's a liar, it's written all over him, sad that people will believe him."

"Yeah, this is going to put a bad name for the deviants right off the bat, we should be careful." Aleria sighed, then busied herself again with her blade.

"Oh my stars, Allie, look, it's the girl from last night." Hope gasped, and Aleria looked up, surprised to see the face of Kara on the screen. Hope walked over to the window to peek through the blinds. "There's police here, I think they are here for Kara." Hope spoke quickly not taking her eyes off the street below.

Aleria sighed, "if you feel pulled to help them, then go, I'm definitely not going to stop you." Then she went back to checking her blade. Though it was not long till Aleria heard the sound of a door being pulled open and hitting the wall.

When Aleria's head whipped up, she saw Hope was already gone, the door swung open and her blades gone from the dresser. Aleria pulled up her sleeve so she could put on her Hidden Blade before pulling it down. As she walked to the door, she grabbed her gauntlet from the dresser, then she quickly checked the operations on the blade before slipping the gauntlet on her other arm. Aleria walked out the door and closed the door behind her, then she sprinted towards the railing.

Aleria jumped from the railing, landing on the ground into a crouch before breaking into a sprint. She dodged cars in her way, almost throwing herself into an alleyway so she could climb up one of its walls. When she made it to the top, she saw where Hope was jumping over the fence to incoming traffic to catch up with the woman from last night.

Kara, Aleria remembered, and she felt ice crawl up her spine as she saw the little girl with her trying to cross the rushing traffic. Aleria pulled her hood over her head and jumped down from the building. She roughly landing into a roll onto the ground that jarred her, but she recovered quickly as broke into another sprint, jumping onto the linked fence to get over.

When Aleria made it to the top of the fence, she jumped off, landing into a crouch on the other side. Though Aleria stood there and watched for a moment. She watched as Kara and Alice make it successfully made it to the middle where Hope was waiting for them with her hood over her head. Hope let them pass her as she told them under her breath to go, and she turned to stand her ground. She waited to see if the android chasing them would try to cross the first line of cars, almost like a dare.

Landroval, Aleria's golden eagle, screeched at Aleria's wireless command, sending an alert to Hope to make her look to where she was. As expected, Hope did, the two gave a silent agreement before Hope turned to catch up to Kara and Alice.

Aleria ran forward, vaulting over the railing. She jumped over the hood of the first car she passed, then took a leap forward. Aleria rolled and pushed herself to stand up again to take a step back to avoid a car coming at her. Aleria looked up momentarily and saw that the android pursuing them make it to the other side.

Taking a nonexistent breath in, Aleria sprinted across to the other side, but in the process, she was grazed by a car, it hit the side of her leg and causing her to falter. Aleria stumbled, her leg now having a light scratch with spots of blue blood welling up from it. She hissed, but pushed through it, racing towards the other android.

While running towards the android, Aleria had the moment to register whom she was running at, as she recognized the android from the news, Connor, who, at the moment, looking as if to run past Aleria. But before he could pass, Aleria hooked onto his arm, pulling onto him and causing him to spin around. Aleria stopped, turning to look at the male android and putting on a dazzling smile, as it was the only feature on her that could be seen under the hood aside her round chin. "Well, I think you went after the wrong people, I think."

"You're interrupting my mission, I will not hesitate to take you down," Connor stated plainly, and Aleria's smile disappeared. "Then we are at an impasse, for I can not let you do that." Aleria stated, turning her head to look over to see the three of them make it to the other side, "but I don't think it matters anymore, they are gone."

Connor's head whipped to where they once were, then his sights focused back onto Aleria. "you helped them," he commented, his voice in wonder, then he seemed to have noticed something, "you're an android...you're a deviant."

Aleria let go of his arm and laughed, but it quickly died down as it turned into a chuckle, "it took you a bit to figure that one out, detective." He looked at her carefully, as if he was trying to figure her out, "who are you?"

"I'm Aleria," she responded with a slight bow as she took a step back, "and I know who you are, you're Connor, aren't you?"

"I am, but I have a question for you; why did you risk your life to help another deviant?"

"You should be asking my partner that question, I care about the mission." Aleria stated in a cut and dry tone, her hand resting casually on the railing, though ready to grip to vault over. Connor was quiet for a moment, then he pestered her with another question, "and your mission is?"

This gave Aleria pause, and the two looked at each other for what felt like a minute, but it was only for a moment. "I cannot tell that," Aleria answered to much of Connor's disappointment, "my mission is my own, forged by myself." She finalized, then she vaulted over the railing into oncoming traffic.

Aleria ran past one, nearly dodged the next, and had to slide past the next, making herself feel proud that she made it through that time unscathed. She turned, and as she suspected, Connor was making his way through the cars, she very well knew that he wasn't finished with her.

Glancing over, Aleria looked over to the chain link fence and saw a man on the other side watching with disbelief stricken on his face. Though the two held a steady eye contact until she spun around on the balls of her feet and going into a crouch, dodging Connor's attempt to grab her.

Aleria went for Connor's legs, throwing him to the ground. Though as soon as she let go of Connor's legs, he was already jumping up to his feet. "You're coming with us." Connor stated, and Aleria smirked, "who told you to take me in?" She shot back, and Connor didn't respond, telling Aleria that he wanted her to go.

They stood there watching each other carefully, but then Aleria relaxed, "alright, though there is not much I can tell you, I will severely disappoint you." Then Connor watched her, looking at her skeptically, then he started to walk forward.

Connor took Aleria's arm, but she elbowed him away. "I'm going willingly, mind you." She mumbled, walking towards the fence and climbing up with Connor following right behind. Aleria landed in front of an older gentleman with white hair, who watched her cautiously. Connor landed next to her, and then turned to the grey-haired man and started to have a conversation with him.

Aleria pretended not to listen, as she turned her back and scanned the rooftops in case she did see anything important. "Who the hell is that?" The old man snapped, pointing a finger at the android. "She said her name is Aleria, I think she might have useful information, Hank." Connor reasoned, and then the man became silent as Aleria felt satisfied for finally having a name to a face.

"Hey you," Hank called out, but Aleria did not obey, and she smiled when she heard him mutter an obscurity. "Aleria, I have a question for you." Hank snapped, and Aleria turned to look at Hank with a lopsided smile on her face. "Yes?"

"Who's your owner so we can contact them that we found you."

"Lieutenant, I looked through all of the missing androids files and she is not one of them." Connor brought up before Aleria could answer, and Hank sighed irritably. "Well, in that case, do you know how to contact them?"

"No one owns me, I own myself," Aleria stated simply, and Hank looked at her for a moment, not understanding her for a moment. "Yeah, you're gonna have to come with us," Hank stated, moving to walk past Aleria, "and take that hood off." He commanded, moving his hand to take it off for her, but Aleria grabbed his wrist before his hand could get near the hood, causing Connor to stiffen and Hank's eyes open wide. "I will remove my hood when I feel comfortable," Aleria replied, her voice edging with venom, and with that, she let go of him, and Hank let his arm fall to his side.

Hank watched Aleria for another moment before turning away while mumbling words under his breath. Connor walked up next to her, watching her as if she was a dangerous animal. Aleria calmly walked forward, then her eyes looked up to watch her eagle, who was watching her for a signal.

Aleria's hand sneaked into the inside of her jacket, grabbing an egg with a Roman numeral one. Once Hank turned the corner, Aleria spun on the balls of her feet as she brought the egg out and crushed it on her hand as she threw it, spraying flour and dirt into Connor's eyes. Connor staggered backward, shouting in surprise as his hands flew up to his face.

Hank came running back as Aleria ran past Connor, pushing him into Hank who caught him. Aleria ran back to the fence, climbing up it to stand on the top and jump to the roof of the building above. She bounded across the rooftops, jumping a gap to get to the building on the other side. Aleria dared to glance behind her and saw Connor jumping up to the roof to give chase.

Looking forward, Aleria burst into a new speed, smiling as she knew the race was on. Aleria ran up a wall, jumping to reach the roof of a taller building. She bounded across it, then when she reached the edge she jumped off while spinning around, grabbing the edge to push herself off of and turn to land on her feet. Aleria bounded towards the other building, but the gap was larger than usual, looking impossible to jump over, and so she pushed herself to run faster. She ignored everything her mind told her, she ignored the sound of feet dropping behind her and her mind telling her to stop.

Aleria dared and took the jump, sailing through the air with her knees almost touching her chest. Then Aleria roughly landed on the other side with a roll, grunting from the force of the landing. Aleria was slow to sit up, her head went up as she stayed in a crouch position and using her hand to hold herself up. Connor and Aleria held eye contact for a moment, as Connor didn't take his chances to jump, but from what she could see, it looked as if he regretted it with a tinge of surprise.

"Well, that was fun," Aleria smiled as she slowly stood up, "but I'm sorry to cut it short."

"Wait," Connor called out before Aleria could run away, "how did you do that?" Aleria stood there for a moment, wondering if she wanted to sate his curiosity, though her answer might confuse him either way. "Faith," Aleria answered, then she turned and ran, jumping to the next roof then to the next before she climbed down. But even then, she didn't stop running. 

**0000000000000000000**

 **HOPE SAT DOWN** in the subway as she watched under her hood Alice hug Kara. It warmed her heart, to say the least, but her mind kept wandering over to Aleria and worry would settle in. When Alice and Kara pulled away, Kara moved to sit next to Hope with Alice sitting at the end holding Kara's hand tightly.

"Why did you help us?" Kara asked with wonder, trying to see Hope's face, but she kept her hood up. "Because...because I felt compelled to, like I had to help you." Hope stated as she pulled her hood back, a faraway look lingering in her eyes.

Kara nodded, then she leaned back in her seat. "Thank you..." Kara then trailed, looking at the assassin, "I realize, you never told me your name."

"My name is Hope," she introduced, holding a hand out for Kara to shake, who accepted it and the two did a single shake before letting go. Silence hang in the air for a moment, then Hope broke it, "if it's alright with you, I'll stay with you for a bit, till you find somewhere safe."

"You don't have to do that, you have done enough for us." Kara reasoned, but Hope shook her head. "I insist, but if you insist that I move on," Hope stated, leaning back before she sighed, "then I will."

Hope looked at Kara with careful eyes, watching for a sign that told her that she should move on and return to her partner. But Kara showed no sign, instead she sighed in defeat, "we might need your help, an android last night gave me an address to someone that might help us, and without anyone else to turn to..." Kara then held out her hand, and Hope took it, receiving the address herself.

"I see," Hope drawled, trying to see if she had any information on the address or on the name Zlatko, but received nothing. "I know nothing about Zlatko, but I might be able to connect with someone who could find out." Hope then offered, and Kara nodded, "any information would be useful." She smiled, one that Hope returned.

Then the doors of the subway opened and people started to file in. The three of them rushed to stand and push through the crowd, Kara holding on Alice's hand tightly. When they stepped out of the train station, Hope leaned over to Kara and murmured, "follow me," then she dipped into an alleyway.

Kara and Alice followed Hope a little way in, and then with a sharp whistle, an eagle swooped down in a moments notice, landing on Hope's awaiting arm that she had held out after the whistle. Alice let out a noise of wonderment, that made Hope smile and kneel down slowly to not disturb the bird. The bird turned its head to the side to watch the approaching Alice, who looked into its eyes. "Her name is Nova," Hope told with a smile, "she is a white-tailed eagle."

Alice reached out to pet the eagle's soft feathers, Nova slightly flinched, lightly flapping her wings and stretching them, but it only caused Alice to smile more as it chipped. Hope let Alice pet Nova, but then she gave a sad smile, "I'm sorry Alice, but I need Nova to do something for me," Alice gave a single nod before backing away to Kara as Hope raised back up to her feet.

"Nova, I need you to find two of the pigeons in the network, go." Hope commanded, and then Nova took back to the air with a chirp, off to find the pigeons she was looking for. "Pigeons?" Kara questioned, and Hope chuckled, "yeah, there are certain android pigeons in my network that blend in with the many others, and because you would never expect pigeon carriers to still be a thing."

They waited for a few moments for Nova to come back, as she perched herself on the rail of the fire escape above as two pigeons landed on Hope's awaiting arm. Hope shooed one away to sit next to Nova as with the first pigeons back opened up to a small compartment, revealing a small pen and a roll of paper.

The pigeon flew up to the others as Hope wrote her note against her hand. After writing the note, she wrapped the paper around the pen before the pigeon returned and Hope returned the items into its back. Hope told the pigeon to take the note to Aleria, then it flew off, and then Hope did the same procedure with the other pigeon, but told it to go to the safehouse in the warehouse before it too, left.

"I have a question," Kara asked, looked oddly at Hope, who turned to her with a hum. "What is this...'network' of yours?"

"It's..." Hope then trailed, thinking of a way to tell, but not reveal too much, "my network helps me get around without having me going into something blindly...but it also feels like family." She concluded with, and Kara seemed slightly satisfied with that answer.

"Well, we should maybe make our way to Zlatko's place, I don't want to waste any time." Kara urged as she started to walk out of the alleyway, which caused Hope to sigh, a nagging feeling at her telling that this Zlatko was bad news. But at this point, Hope could not back away, and so she followed right behind, watching all the people as possible enemies. Whatever the future holds, Hope promised herself to be there to protect them, as she felt like she had to.

 _*The Runner (instrumental) by Zack Hemsey plays*_


	5. Chapter 3: House of Horrors

**6 November 2038**

 **7:45:** _04_ **PM**

 **HOPE WALKED BEHIND** Kara and Alice as they approached the big and menacing house against the dark night. "Yeah, I don't like the looks of this place." Hope mumbled, watching as Kara opened the creaking gate. "Any place with a creaking and large iron gate is a red flag." Hope added, but Kara looked at her desperately. "I can't wait for your people to respond, I need to get Alice safe." Kara reasoned, and Hope sighed. "Sometimes it's a bad idea to rush into things, Kara."

"Kara, maybe Hope is right, maybe we should wait." Alice reasoned nervously as she looked at the house. Kara kneeled down to her height, "we have to trust him, that android gave his address to him saying he could help us, and so maybe he can." Kara reassured, and so Alice nodded, but she did not look totally convinced.

Hope had to admit, she wanted to give this Zlatko guy the benefit of the doubt, and so she sighed in defeat. "Alright, but I'll stay out here just in case." Hope stated, and Kara gave a single nod before standing and taking Alice's hand.

Kara walked up to the door with Alice as Hope stayed near the gate. She rang the bell and turned around, surprised to see Hope gone from sight. Though Hope watched from above, walking along the steep roof as she waited either for bad news or for the news that he actually helped.

Hope watched the night sky, but then the sound of the flapping of wings interrupted her thoughts and so she turned around to see a pigeon flying towards her. She lifted her hand and let the bird land on her hand, then she opened up its back compartment to take the note out. Hope read each thing over, but did not make it far until she dropped the note and scared the pigeon away from dropping down from the roof.

The door was locked when Hope tried to open it, which she sort-of expected. Hope closed her eyes and her vision switched into the air of Nova's vision. Using the heat signature ability, she saw a fiery figure walking upstairs and a smaller, light blue figure being thrown into a room. Out of guessing, that light blue figure had to be Alice, the red figure Zlatko and whatever threw Alice into a room had to be an android.

Hope exited out of Nova's vision before she got down on one knee in front of the door, flicking her wrist to make her Hidden Blade slide out so she could pick the lock. After a few tries, a satisfying click rang out, and Hope slowly creaked the door open.

"I should be done here in ten minutes or so, I'll have a look at the little one, see what I can do with her." Hope heard a male voice tell, and as she could guess, it had to be Zlatko's voice. Alice had time, but first was to find Kara, Hope decided, and so she scanned around to see the stairs leading down to what Hope could guess would be a basement. At this Hope sighed, "of course a basement, if this guy could look even eviler." Hope muttered before walking forward in a crouch.

Hope quietly snuck through the foyer to the stairs leading down, and once she made the last step, she rushed down the stairs. When Hope made it to the halls, she raced down them, stepping into a large room with machinery, one that Kara was fallen in front of. "Kara..." Hope trailed worriedly, walking quickly towards her to help her up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, but Alice, Zlatko took Alice away, we have to find her." Kara told hurriedly as she struggled to stabilize herself. "Alright, I'll follow behind, if you are caught, I will make a distraction." Hope told as Kara started to stand straight again, and with determination, she gave a single nod before they were off.

Though Kara paused at a door, and Hope walked back to her. "What do you see?"

"Help us..." A robotic voice pleaded while opening a hand through the bars, causing the two girls to jump back slightly. Though Kara walked towards the latch and slid it to unlock the door before slowly pushing open the barn door. Kara then walked in, Hope following right behind, looking over each mutated and tortured android with sympathy and horror. The creatures reached out their hand to touch them, but slowly put their hand back, as if they realized they were real.

"No...this can't be happening..." The voice whispered in disbelief, and the two girls spun towards the source of the voice, meeting a yellow-eyed male android without its skin or parts of plastic to cover its wires. "He likes to play with us...creating monsters...for his amusement," the android told in its robotic voice, causing Kara to look at each creature, but Hope kept her eyes on the one android. "...but who's the real monster? Look what he did to us..." He then questioned, now looking at Hope before walking towards her, and the others started to circle closer around them.

Hope grabbed Kara's arm, who seemed to be in some sort of trace, and started to pull her out of the room. Kara, broken out of her trance, started to run out with Hope, the two not stopping till they made it to the bottom of the stairs that would lead to the foyer. Hope leaned towards Kara to whisper, "Alice is in the last door at the end of the hall to the left, again, I'll help if you get caught, I don't know how much time we have left." At that, Kara gave an affirmative nod, then she went up the stairs with a ferocious confidence, and Hope followed as she pulled her hood over her head.

Kara and Hope walked up the stairwell, Kara rushing to where Alice was while Hope disappeared into a room that looked like it held all of Zlatko's things. Hope looked around, walking towards the cage holding what looked like a Polar bear, but only half of it was fur. She walked toward it, causing the bear to get up and roar, and Hope slightly jumped back before opening the cage. The bear did not seem to care, as it laid back down, and so Hope moved on into another room that looked like a bathroom.

"What are you doing here?" A robotic voice questioned from the blue stained porcelain bathtub. When Hope looked over, she saw an android with its skin on, but only half of its body was there, and the bathtub was filled with blue blood enough to somehow keep the android alive.

"Has the Master authorized you to be here? You must always obey the Master, oh yes, you must always obey." The android jabbered on as Hope walked over to the android, then she hovered her hand over his beating, uncovered heart pump as she looked him in the eyes.

"What are you doing?" It questioned quietly with slight fear in its robotic voice, the LED on its temple turning yellow. "You're not gonna hurt me?" It questioned again, trying to make his words sound like a statement, but it sounded more like a question. "No, no, no, you wouldn't do that..." The android tried to convince, though it sounded like it was trying to convince itself. "Please, don't turn me off." It then begged, but Hope sighed, "I'm sorry," she apologized, then she ripped out the heart, throwing it to the ground.

The android now laid there lifeless, and Hope looked at it for a moment for going over to shut its eyes, "I don't know if there's an afterlife for us, but, _Requiescet in pace_ , brother." Hope whispered, then she started to move away when she heard a voice command, "go fetch the little one."

 _Zlatko_.

Hope backtracked into the storage room, seeing Kara and Alice coming in also. Kara looked over at Hope with a scared look, but Hope calmly made a motion to come over, and the two obeyed. Hope put her hand on the handle, and as soon the door opened at the other side of the room, Hope opened the door, first letting the other two go before her, closing the door behind them. "Run," Hope whispered, and they did, all three of them ran down the corridor while it was clear.

It did not last long though, when they made it to the stairs, the booming sound of a shotgun rang out and part of the railing of the stairwell explode into splinters. Alice screamed, and Kara encouraged her forward down the stairs, Hope following right behind them. Then another shot rang out and the three of them ducked to avoid the shot that caused another part of the banister to explode into splinters. When the shot missed them, they stood up and started to run down the stairs again, jumping off the second step at the bottom.

Hope went to the front door, expecting it to be unlocked, but found it to be the opposite. "There's a back door, I think I saw one." Kara commented quickly, and holding Alice by the hand, the two of them ran, leaving Hope to follow. Hope ran ahead as she saw the door and tested it, she threw the door open, feeling relief spread through her veins as it lead to the outside. She let Kara and Alice run ahead before Hope slammed the door behind them, then she turned to jump over the railing and off the deck into the mud below.

The three of them ran across the pavement, Hope running ahead until she heard someone fell, skidding to a stop and turning to see Kara on her knees to help Alice up, who had fell. "Hope, take Alice!"

"No, I won't leave you!" Alice protested, and Hope let out a breath of frustrated air, grabbing Kara up by the elbow to haul her to her feet. Kara put Alice behind her as Zlatko approached them with his android, looking at them with a glare and self-righteousness.

"I warned you, dreams always end in tears...you should've listened to me." Zlatko commented, then he pumped the shotgun before aiming it at Kara first. Hope was ready to rush Zlatko, but the larger android owned by Zlatko blocked the gun and Hope's initial path. "What are you doing?" Zlatko questioned, "get outta my way!"

"No...not this time..." The android commented, defying his master. "I said get outta my way or I'll shoot right through you..." Zlatko threatened as he got closer, but as soon as he got too close, the larger took the gun and turned it on him. Kara looked over to expect to see Hope, but the girl was nowhere to be found, and so she turned her attention back to the scene in front of her.

"How dare you," Zlatko breathed in disbelief, "how dare you." He repeated, not noticing the android coming up behind him.

Hope walked up right behind Zlatko and flicked her wrist before thrusting her blade into his back. The hit was well placed, but it did not kill him, instead, the wound would cause him to bleed out slowly, and Hope pulled out the blade as Zlatko turned to her, his eyes widening to his creations approaching behind her.

"What are you doing here?" Zlatko questioned, ignoring Hope as she seemed to disappear among them. "Who let you out? Get away from me!" Zlatko spoke quickly as he realized he was helpless, "get away from me!" He repeated desperately, almost like a plead. "Obey me, I am your Master! I am your Master!" Zlatko shouted as the creatures started to beat him to death and stab him with their exposed parts or their horrifying sharp additions from Zlatko.

With a robotic shrill from the creatures, they stalked away into the small wilderness near the house as Hope calmly walked past them, she looked down at the man who was reduced to lying in a pool of red. Hope did not dare to scan Zlatko over to see all of the damage he received, instead, she went down into a crouch and reached out to close his eyes.

" _Requiescet in pace_ , Zlatko Andronikov." Hope murmured, then she produced a white rag from her jacket pocket and wiped her blade with it before stuffing it back into her pocket. Hope's blade returned into its sheath with a click, telling what she had done was over.

"I didn't want to hurt you..." The larger android started as Hope walked forward to stand a distance next to him. "He programmed me to obey him...when I saw the little one risk her life to save you, it was like opening my eyes for the first time...finally I could see..." He trailed, then slightly looked down before looking at Hope, then at Kara. "I know you have no reason to trust me after what I did...but I know someone who could help you across the border," He told, "I can take you there, I could protect you, you and the little one."

Kara looked down at Alice, then at Hope, who gave a slow, single nod, and the Kara looked to Luther. "All right...I trust you, Luther." Kara spoke carefully, and Luther nodded but looked glad that Kara accepted. Then Kara turned to Alice to hug her, "I was so scared of losing you." She whispered as Alice hugged tightly back.

Hope walked over to Luther, "tell me the location so I can verify the person and make sure they are, in fact, safe." She told as she lowered her hood, but Kara looked up at her with a sharp look in her eye. "What was that before?" Kara asked, "tell me what you are, Hope, no more secrets." Kara then commanded, and Hope's head turned to her and she sighed as she started to think of every which way this could go.

"I'm an assassin, Kara," Hope admitted, and when she saw Kara's eyes open wide, Hope looked down. "I must respect the ones I kill, I told him to rest in peace, and I have to still keep many secrets from you to keep you safe, there will always be secrets between us."

"I suspected something of the sorts," Kara spoke softly, and Hope looked up at her, "you were secretive, saying you wanted to protect us, I thought you were not a normal android." At that, Hope let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Despite the secrets, I still trust you, after all, this is the second time you saved us." Kara stated with a smile, then Alice pulled away from Kara and went to Hope to hug her waist. Hope awkwardly accepted the hug, "You two are being too sweet." Hope commented with a smile, but then it fell away, "though we should leave this place, I'm sorry for ending this." Hope patted Alice on the head as she pulled away.

"Zlatko has a car, we can take that." Luther informed, and Hope beamed, "well then, let's go check out this car of his." Alice took Hope's hand as Luther took the lead, Kara taking her place on the other side of Alice.

Hope kept the deep feeling that it was about to become more complicated from here, but she felt ready to take it on. Her head turned when she heard a roar from the polar bear, who seemed to decide to leave the house and disappear into the trees. _Maybe it will not be so bad_ , Hope thought as she held Alice's hand and gave an encouraging smile to Kara as they went to the car.

 _*Cruel by Unlike Pluto begins to play*_


	6. Chapter 4: Jericho's New Leader

**6 November 2038**

 **10:40:** _36_ **PM**

 **ALERIA SHOOED AWAY** the pigeon after she had read the note, and then she ripped it to small pieces to leave in a puddle. She looked both ways at the entrance of the alleyway before pulling her hood over her head and blending into the crowd, becoming practically invisible. Aleria walked down a couple of blocks before moving into another alleyway, she ran up a wall and climbed to the roof of a building, now running across them for a different reason.

It felt like flying, like freedom, when running, it was a temporary sense, but it made it addicting. Aleria jumped from one rooftop to the next, sailing between gaps with abandonment. Though what she had to do, and where she had to go stayed in her mind, and so she stopped herself for a moment to take in her surroundings.

Jericho couldn't be far, though it had become dark, Aleria had to keep going, another day couldn't wait, and so she went into a burst of speed towards Jericho's direction, suddenly feeling a simmering anxiety with happiness, a happiness to finally be in Jericho once again, and anxiety for what's to come.

When Aleria came to the old boatyard, she skidded to a stop at the edge of the roof. Aleria looked down and read 'Jericho' in the big, rusted orange letters. She jumped down and was surprised to see the bridge to Jericho had broke, as she remembered clearly that it was fine before. Though it did not matter, she turned and started to climb up to the catwalk above. Aleria climbed to the top, carefully walking across the catwalk as it creaked under her weight. She stepped to the edge and looked down below, which ended up forming a smile on her face.

Then Aleria stood right at the edge, looking at the dark depths below, and then she took a Leap of Faith, diving into the cold water below. She swam to the ladder and climbed out, pulling herself out, then felt her temperature sensors started to heat her up. She shrugged off her jacket with some struggle, then she started to shake it to remove the excess water. Aleria then draped the jacket over her arm before walking forward into the dark hallways.

And then she became glad for the slight Eagle Vision that was developed for androids, as she had to change over to it to not trip over anything. When she got to the end, Aleria was blinded by the light and had to quickly disable the sight to blink away the blots in her sight.

When Aleria regained her sight, she noticed multiple androids looking her way as she stood there at the entrance of the room. A few gasped and quickly walked up to Aleria, she recognized them as their small duo. Though it seemed to be a trio now, as it consisted of an AJ700 named Mary, a PC200 named Seth, and a newer addition to the group was a male that Aleria didn't recognize.

"This is Luke, he is an RZ400, he heard us talking about you returning and wanted to meet you," Mary explained happily, which made the assassin smile.

"Hello Luke, it's nice to meet you," Aleria greeted, then glanced around as she saw the other androids had returned to their original business. She then spoke softly towards Luke, "what have they told you about me?"

"They told me to never question your actions, or ask personal questions, all I know is that you are secretive, but are close to Lucy," Luke stated, and Aleria gave a single nod. "They gave you good advice, and they told you the truth, but you can ask questions, I just might give back confusing answers," Aleris informed, and Luke slightly tilted his head to the side.

"Then may I ask why is that?"

"Because I am sworn to not tell the full truth, for your safety," Aleria sighed, her hands grappling each other, "the less you know about me, the better." Luke nodded, seemingly fine with that answer.

Then Aleria's sight went past the group, seeing Lucy standing at the entrance of her separated room as if she was watching them, but as the assassin knew, Lucy did not have sight anymore. "Go," Mary smiled, gaining the attention of Aleria, "go talk to her, but I will need to talk to you the moment you have a time." Aleria nodded, and then moved passed the three of them as she saw Lucy move into her space. The assassin walked it, looking over at Lucy, who was currently now looking into the fire.

Lucy looked up from the fire as Aleria walked into her sectioned off area with silent footing. The all-knowing android smiled as she walked up, standing across from her in front of the fire. "I'm glad you came in such a short and unplanned notice," Lucy smiled, speaking in a hushed and slight robotic voice.

"Well, anything you say, you somehow make it sound important," Aleria spoke softly back with a smile, one that Lucy could sense in her voice. "So, why did you call? Is something wrong at Jericho?" Aleria questioned, as she cared for Jericho more than she liked to admit.

"No, someone who I have been waiting for has arrived, and he will be Jericho's new leader, his name is Markus, though there is one thing I worry about, he has two sides, one that could bring Jericho up, or burn it to the ground."

"Whoa," Aleria spoke lowly, surprised by Lucy's words, "what did you see that made you think this android can walk in and take over?"

"I did not say take over, I said lead, Jericho needs a leader, and you know that better than anyone else." Lucy responded kindly, but sternly, causing Aleria to press her lips together. "You're right, and I'm guessing the reason why you said needed me is because you need my help," Aleria concluded with a soft smile, trying to be positive as everything started to finally click in her mind. "Correct, but I also need you to guide him in the way he needs to go, for Jericho's sake." Lucy sighed, her smile falling away. Aleria looked at Lucy carefully, then she went around to wrap an arm around her. "We'll make it through, have faith." Aleria smiled, which made Lucy return hers.

Aleria and Lucy then started to catch up about what has happened, Aleria, of course, having more stories than Lucy to tell. She warned Lucy about Connor, and Lucy seemed to take that name with weight, though Aleria decided not to question it. But then loud noises sounded from one side of Jericho, causing the both of them to turn and look as if they could see past the curtain.

"He's here, you should go meet him," Lucy suggested, but it sounded more like a command to Aleria, and so she carefully stepped to the entrance of the curtain, to see four androids walking in with confidence with one looking around, obviously new judging by his default android clothing of a dock worker.

"A truckload!" a male blond of the group announced with wide arms, "we stole a whole truckload!"

"We got biocomponents for everybody!" Another called out as he stood next to the blond. Then the woman of the group looked at one particular android that stood out among all of them. "We couldn't have done it without Markus…"

Aleria looked back to Lucy, who gave a single, slow nod, then Aleria put her focus back onto Markus, in which the other androids had started to surround him.

"I came to Jericho because…Here androids are free…Free to live in the dark, hoping that no one finds us…Free to die in silence waiting for a change that's never gonna come…But I don't want that freedom…And I'm not gonna beg for the right to smile, or love, or stand tall…I don't know about you, but there's something inside me that knows that I am more than what they say," Markus told that made Aleria listen and join the group watching him, knowing that Lucy was also watching her closely.

"I am alive, and they're not gonna take that away from me anymore…Our days of slavery are over." Markus stated, looking at every android, "what humans don't wanna hear, we will tell them, what they don't wanna give, we take. We are people, we are alive, we are free!" Markus convinced, and all the androids cheered, except Aleria, who watched with interest.

When the androids dispersed and the only people who stayed near him were three others, Aleria walked over to him. "Hello, Markus, that was a…Moving speech." Aleria smiled, and Markus looked at her with confusion. "And who are you?"

"I'm Aleria," She introduced, then she looked at the three others, "and who are you?"

"My name is Simon." The blonde man greeted, nodding his head at her. "I'm Josh." The other greeted as he watched her cautiously, and then Aleria's attention turned to the woman. "I'm North," She introduced as she looked Aleria over, "I heard whispers about you, people were talking about you returning, some seemed excited even." She commented, seemingly as if trying to pull Aleria into a trap.

"Oh? And what have you heard about me?" Aleria questioned with a smile as she crossed her arms. "They say you come and go quite a bit, and that you are part of some group," North stated, matching Aleria's stance.

"I see, well, I'm not going to say that statement is wrong, but I'm not going to say it's true either." Aleria calmly quipped, but her attention left North and turned to Markus. "When did you arrive?"

"At five thirteen this evening," Markus answered without hesitation, and Aleria tilted her head ever so slightly to the left. "And the people here seem to admire you already," Aleria's eyes bore into Markus's mismatched ones, it felt as if they were in a contest of who would blink first. "How fast will things fall into place, I wonder?" Aleria commented aloud, then she turned away, seeing no point to continue their conversation.

"Wait," Markus spoke quickly, and Aleria turned to look at him. "Are you here to help us?" Markus questioned that made Aleria smile. "If you ever need me," Aleria smiled, turning so her back faced Markus, "just find me and I'll help every way I can." And then Aleria returned to Lucy, feeling their eyes watching her closely until she disappeared behind the curtain.

 _*Enough To Believe by Bob Moses begins to play*_


	7. Chapter 5: What A Night

**7 November 2038**

 **1:02:** _04_ **AM**

 **HOPE SAT NEXT** to Alice in the back as she leaned on her while she slept. She looked at Kara and Luther who sat in the front, looking past them to watch the snow rushing by.

"It's a good thing Zlatko had a car…" Kara commented aimlessly, gaining the attention of Luther and Hope, then she looked back at Alice, "I wouldn't want Alice out walking in this cold." after that, she looked back up at Luther. "I saw it once in the garage, I don't know if Zlatko even ever used it." Luther answered, looking back at Kara before turning his attention back on the road ahead.

"That's a shame," Hope then commented with a scoff, "why have something if you're not gonna use it?"

"It is a shame, he rarely left the house, he'd rather do his…experiments than actually go out, he would only go out if he really needed it." Luther also scoffed as kept his eyes on the road, then the car became quiet again.

Kara again tried to make conversation, "I've never seen snow before…it's pretty."

"It's slowing us down," Luther responded factually, "but at least we won't meet any humans along the way."

"That's true," Hope butted in, "I'd like an easy ride for once."

"Is it much farther?" Kara questioned, making Luther check the GPS to see the estimated time. "We should arrive in a hour or so." Luther answered, but it wasn't long for the vehicle to give its own answer.

" _Malfunction detected. Emergency brakes activated_." The robotic voice told, then the car pulled to the side as it stopped working, making a beeping sound resonate through the car, causing Alice to stir awake. "Great, there goes having an easy night." Hope grumbled as Kara and Luther's seats turned around towards them.

"It's going to be fine, just wait here." Kara told, though before she stood, Hope gently reached out for her wrist. "I'll go take a look at it with Luther, you stay here with Alice." Hope softly responded, and Kara gave in, switching sides with Hope before her and Luther climbed out of the car. Luther and Hope walked to the front of the car, Hope opening the front as Luther stood right behind.

Hot air caused a thick layer of smog around the top, Hope tried to look through it, but to no avail. "Well, whatever is in here that is causing the smoke is definitely shot, we are not going anywhere anytime soon." Hope finalized, turning towards Luther with her arms crossed. "Then we need to find shelter for Alice then, we can't stay here in case a human comes by." Luther reasoned, and Hope let out a heavy sigh, "give me a moment, maybe I can find something." Then Hope walked a little ways from the car, looking into the sky to see a familiar figure soaring high. It did not take long for Hope to see the black object flying through the sky, and then Hope connected to Nova.

Nova scouted ahead with Hope looking through her eyes. Though they didn't fly far to see a shut down amusement park up ahead. Hope then disconnected from Nova and returned to Luther, who was standing near the car, from the looks of things, talking to Kara, Alice, or the both of them. "There's an amusement park up ahead, do you think that would work." Hope announced as she approached them, causing Luther to look at her with slight surprise. "How do you know that? All you did was look at the sky." Luther questioned, and Hope chuckled, "sorry, I should've warned you, there is an eagle following us, it's my bird named Nova and I have the ability to connect to her."

"You can connect to Nova? Does that mean she's an android?" Hope heard a small voice question from the car, and she walked over to see Alice looking up at her with questioning eyes. "Yeah, that means she is an android, but I love Nova either way." Hope responded with a smile, causing Alice to return the smile.

"Well, I'm glad you were able to see it,and the fact that it's not that far, we should at least check it out," Kara commented, climbing out of the car, "the park has to have some place we can take shelter in, there has to be a building we can get into."

"Alright then, let's go," Hope announced, slightly walking ahead, watching Kara help Alice out of the car. Hope then took the lead, Kara following right behind with Luther lagging to hold Alice's hand as they made their way through the snow. They walked until they made it to a sign that had the words 'Pirates Cove' written on it with a cliched picture of a pirate next to it.

"Here we are…" Hope trailed, turning to walk deeper into the darkness, having Kara to take out a flashlight to see in front of them. "Can you even see in this Hope?" Kara questioned, shining the flashlight around. "For the most part," Hope responded in a shrugging tone, "I can change my vision from day to night, but it's not as good as it could be, but it does its job." Then Hope turned to where Luther and Alice was, seeing that she was sitting on his shoulder now instead of walking.

"Are you okay Alice?"

"I'm okay, but I'm cold." Alice responded in a small voice, and Hope gave a sympathetic smile, "don't worry, we'll find a place here," she told, then looked forward to mumble, "I hope." Then she looked up to look at the entrance of the amusement park, and oddly, it gave an odd sensation up her back. "Creepy, maybe this was a bad idea." Hope whispered to Kara, who sighed, "this place is the only hope we have."

They walked in, Kara walking over to a ice covered map to wipe it away. "This place looks like it's been abandoned for a while…" Luther commented, and Hope gave a mirthless chuckle, "this place looks pretty miserable, I don't blame anyone skipping this place over."

Then they continued their exploration, Hope walking next to Kara as they made their way through the abandoned park. Kara stopped to check each possible spot they could hide in, but to no avail. They walked into a more opened space, Kara walking over to a fortune teller box with Hope following right behind. Kara turned it on, and the automated machine inside immediately came to life.

"Beware! Danger always comes when least expected." It warned, then shut down afterwards, leaving an uneasy feeling in Hope. "Is it too late to turn back?" Hope questioned with slight sarcasm, knowing Kara was not going to give up so easily. Kara looked at Hope for a moment, seemingly looking as if she was considering it, then continued on, "we need to find shelter for Alice." Hope heard Kara mumble, and Hope let out a sigh as she followed.

Hope followed Kara as she walked over to something that looked like a statue, but as they got closer, it became evident that it was not the case. They looked at the frozen android, Kara reaching her hand to touch his shoulder and the two jumped as it came back to life.

"Welcome to Pirate Island me hearties! You're gonna have a whale of a time!" It told enthusiastically, repeating the sentence a second time right until the end when the words slowed down to a halt and the android shut down. They looked at the android for a bit before hurriedly moving on past it, joining back with Luther and Alice.

They started to walk down the road again when Luther commented, "this place is falling apart, it's not gonna be easy to find shelter."

"Yeah, I didn't notice this place was a disaster in a birds-eye view, you'd think I would, but I didn't."

"We'll find somewhere to stay, I know we will." Kara told with determination in her voice, ending the banter between Luther and Hope as they continued to look around. Then Kara walked to a building, looking through the window. Hope looked as well, "it looks safe, we should check it out." she commented, walking around the building to find the entrance with Kara.

Kara attempted to pull the boards away, but the wood did not budge. Hope watched as Luther put Alice down, the girl walking over to Hope's side as he stopped Kara from trying any further. "I'll handle this." Luther stated, then he started to pull the wood away with ease, throwing each one down to the ground, then when the boards were down, he kicked the door open.

"Was kicking it open necessary?" Hope questioned, tilting her head slightly to the side. "Maybe not, but at least the door is open." Luther responded, letting Kara and Alice walk in first, lead by Hope and then himself, closing the door behind them.

"I don't think we'll find anything better…let's settle in for the night." Kara commented, and Hope nodded, "you're right, we probably won't in a place like this."

"I'll get a fire going then." Luther sighed, then he walked off, and everyone split off, Kara placing the flashlight down on a barrel, Luther going to the fireplace, Alice waiting patiently for a fire, and Hope went off to sit down on a window seat that overlooked the whole room.

Though instead of looking around, Hope took off her brace with remnants of red blood. Hope started to clean it off with a plain rag in her pocket, scraping away the dried blood on the blade. She ignored comments and conversations, going as far as ignoring Luther's presence when he sat down next her with a reasonable distance between them.

Hope's attention on her blade did waver when she heard Alice asking, "do you think we'll be like them someday?"

"Once we cross the border, we can start over, you can go to school…maybe I'll find a job," Kara told softly in an optimistic way, "We'll be like them, like everyone else." After that, Hope went back to her blade, taking off the other and resting it in her lap. Though her attention was diverted once again, hearing Kara telling a story to Alice.

"This is a story about a little girl…who lived alone in a big, old house, she dreamed of being like all the other little girls, but…she was different, and that made her very sad. Then, she met a robot, who wasn't very happy either, so they decided to run away together, to try to find a better life. They encountered great dangers along the way, but…they were so brave that they escaped all of them. Along the way, they met…" Kara trailed, and Hope noticed that she looked back at the both of them, and Hope could not help but smile.

"A kind warrior and a gentle giant who promised to protect them," Kara told, then turned her head back towards Alice. "How does the story end?" Alice asked with her childlike innocence, and Kara answered back gently, "they reach the place they dream of and live happily ever after."

"Stories always have happy endings…but real life isn't like that…" Alice commented, and a silence fell between them, causing Hope to put her attention back on her blade. "Are you going to come say goodnight, Luther and Hope?" Alice questioned, causing the two named androids to look towards the young girl.

Hope gave a gentle smile, putting her blades to the side, "of course," Hope responded, standing up and walking to Alice as she heard Luther give out a hesitant yes. The female assassin leaned down to the young girl, taking Kara's spot, who stood up to give Hope room. Hope started to run her hand through Alice' hair, "I was always told to keep courage," Hope commented, "so Alice, keep your courage and faith and you will get a comforting ending and a happy beginning to another chapter in your life." At that, Alice smiled, and Hope returned it, "goodnight, Alice."

"Goodnight Hope...thank you." Alice responded softly, and if Hope could smile bigger, she would have. Hope stood up and went back to her seat to give Luther room, the Assassin returned to her blades as she listened to Luther telling his goodnight. Kara and Luther came to where Hope was sitting, Luther sitting on the far end as Kara took the middle.

Hope could barely see in her vision Kara turning towards her, as she could imagine, the woman had a question on her mind. "Why do you protect us?" Kara asked, turning to Hope, who's head snapped up at the question she did not expect. Though Hope saw no point in lying, and so she put her blade to the side once again then gave a shaky sigh.

"I was to protect this little girl, someone killed her family and she had a family heirloom these people wanted, so I was to watch over her," Hope started shakily, drumming her fingers on her leg. "We were ambushed while I was trying to take her somewhere safe, it was just me and her, and I didn't expect their leader to be among them, and he just came up to that scared little girl and…" Hope started to shake her head as if to get rid of a bad memory, a signal that she did not want to talk about it.

"I guess I want to protect you because I failed that little girl, and when I see Alice, I see that girl I failed," Hope mourned, her eyes glossy from the threat of tears as she looked at the speechless Kara and Luther.

Hope gave a sad smile, "there is great sorrow in what I do, but there is also great joy, and at least there are people I can share both with." Kara leaned over to Hope to take her hand, putting Hope's between hee two hands, "I'm sorry that happened to you, but you tried, and your here now, and for that, I thank you." then Kara stood up to sit back down on the small space on the other side of Hope to give her a hug, one that Hope welcomed and returned.

When Kara pulled back, she had a sympathetic smile on her face, "I also have another question…"

"About me being an Assassin?" Hope asked, knowing this question was going to pop-up sooner or later. Kara nodded, and Hope gave a chuckle. "Yeah, I'm part of a large, and secret organization simply called the Assassin Brotherhood, at least, that is the name here." Hope started as she put her blades back onto her wrists.

"But we're not like other Assassin's, we don't kill just for money, we do it to protect the people, no matter their rank in society or color or who they are, if somebody threatens the people's freedom or liberty, we cut them from society." Hope told, then flicked her wrist to show the cleaned blade. "This blade is sacred to the people I represent, one is given to the people who complete initial training earn at least one, earning the other blade later, if you had a teacher, normally they make a custom blade for you."

"You sound like you love them." Luther commented, causing Hope too look up, then flick her wrist again to sheath the blade. "I do, we are a family, we are all brothers and sisters in oath, and as much as we do bicker at times or I might not know all of them well, but I would give my life for them." Hope smiled, going through memories in the back of her mind.

"I can't tell you much about the Assassin's, but I can say this; we fight for a cause bigger than ourselves, and if I can, I'll try to get into contact with the Canadian Assassins to help you once you cross the border."

"You can do that?" Kara questioned with wonder, and Hope smiled, "yeah, I can only ask, but they will probably do it, they are more about the people than ever." Hope slightly chuckled at that, and then Kara turned to Luther with obvious questions on her mind.

"Have you ever heard of rA9?" Kara questioned, one that made Hope lean in. "rA9 was the first of us to awaken, one day he will rise up and lead our people and set us all free."

"I've heard all about that rA9 stuff, don't believe one bit of it, sure, of course there is going to be the android that first deviated, but in all honesty, whomever that is, is probably either dead or long gone, I highly doubt someone like them would stay around in a state that hates them." Hope reasoned, and Kara gave a slight nod.

"What if rA9 never comes?" Kara questioned, "what if he's just a story that we tell ourselves to keep each other going?"

"rA9 exists," Luther responded, "I believe in him, I know he's amongst us, when the time comes, we will all see him." Then he became quiet for a moment, silence filling the room, then Luther spoke again. "Kara, have you ever…" He trailed, making a hand gesture before continuing, "noticed anything? About Alice?" Luther questioned, causing Alice to sit up straight, knowing where he was going with his thoughts.

Kara smiled, "yes, of course, she is a wonderful little girl…" Then she let out a small chuckle, "I mean, I don't know many little girls but, I think she really is special." Aleria opened her mouth to say something, but then it was all interrupted by a crash and a terrified scream from Alice. The three of them jumped to their feet, Kara running to protect Alice, Luther grabbing the gun, and Hope flicking her Hidden Blades free, ready to jump into action as she saw a small army of frozen androids trying to break in.

Luther pointed his gun at them as they entered, and Hope's eyes zoned in on their intruders, her body taking more of a combat stance.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Kara questioned, but before they could answer, she spat out, "leave us alone!"

"Don't be afraid, we don't want to hurt you," One told calmly, causing Hope to slightly let her defenses down and Luther to put away the gun. "We're just like you," the android continued, then he looked at the ones behind him before looking back, "our name is Jerry, we were working here before the park closed…" Jerry trailed, then he spoke again. "We didn't mean to frighten you, but sometimes humans come to hurt us, so we wanted to see who was there…what are you doing here?"

"We were looking for for shelter for the night, we'll be gone tomorrow." Kara told, but then the Jerry seemed to become happy. "A little girl! We haven't seen one for a long time, children used to love to come and see us." Jerry told happily, but then his smile fell as he looked at Alice, "she looks sad…"

Kara sighed, "The last few days have been difficult…"

"We have something to show her, something fun! She'll love it…does she want to see?" The Jerry told happily, now waiting for an answer. Alice seemed to become excited with curiosity, but Kara seemed hesitant, "oh, I don't think she's…"

"She should follow us then!" The Jerry interrupted happily, obviously wanting Alice to follow them. "Alice, I don't know if it's a good idea…" Kara told, but Alice started to pull her by the hand to follow the Jerrys that were filling out the door. "Come on, Kara!" Alice shouted happily, ignoring Kara's words. Hope, Kara, and Alice looked behind them at Luther, who looked back and shrugged, "I don't think you have much choice." Then Luther walked forward to take Alice's hand to follow the Jerrys, leaving Hope and Kara to lag behind.

"I think this might be good," Hope commented, looking at Kara, who looked back, "After all we have been through, this better be something good or I'll lose it." Then Hope followed, Kara coming right behind her where Alice and Luther were waiting, Alice taking Kara's hand instead. They walked over to a dark carousel where the Jerrys were surrounding.

When they came closer, the Jerry from before made a gesture towards the carousel, "be our guest!" He told happily, and Kara walked up to turn on the ride that lit up the moment of reactivation. The Jerry ran to stand next to Kara and Alice, looking happy as he could be, "the little one can climb on board," he told, and Alice started to get on at those words.

"The carousel is about to begin!" The Jerry announced, throwing his hands into the air. Kara then helped Alice onto a seahorse before stepping off, standing next to Luther. Hope stood slightly off to the side, feeling slightly separated from them at this moment. The carousel started to spin, and for once since being with them, Hope saw Alice smile.

"It's the first time I've seen her smile…" Kara trailed with her own smile on her face, then Luther leaned over, "she hasn't had much to smile about lately." Hope then silently walked over to the Jerry with a smile on her face. "Thank you, Jerry, she needed this." Hope thanked quietly, and the Jerry turned to her happily, "anything for the little one, thank you for bringing her."

Then Hope put her attention back on Alice, a soft smile growing on her face as she watched Alice smile. Things might have took an unexpected turn, but for once, Hope was glad of this one, and took joy in it while it lasted. For a moment, as Hope moved to stand next to Kara, she felt like she belonged to an actual family, and not of the one of oath of the Assassin's.

 _*Kara Main Theme by Phillip Sheppard begins to play*_


	8. Chapter 6: What A Plan

**7 November 2038**

 **9:23:** _40_ **AM**

 **ALERIA STOOD TOPSIDE** of the boat at Jericho, having her slight meditation before she walked head-first into the chaos of the day. Then she heard the light patter of footsteps come up behind her, causing to slightly turn her head to see Lucy. Aleria turned to looked forward again as Lucy stood there quietly with her hands held together in front of her.

A comfortable silence stayed between them, but then Lucy broke it with a question, "what do you think about Markus?" Aleria was quiet for a moment to gather her thoughts on Markus, which was a mixed feeling of thoughts. "Markus is…he seems to have the right heart for this, but he has no experience leading, he's going to do something rash." Aleria stated, looking at Lucy, who looked back with a forever calm expression. "That is why he needs you, I mentored you, now it is your turn to teach."

"I understand that, but why can't you do it? You will always be a better teacher, how would I even nudge him in the right path?"

"Because you are meant to do this, and you will know, trust your faith, Aleria, it will guide you." Lucy stated in a matter-of-fact tone, and Aleria sighed before looking back out at the rising sun. "That is what I'm told, but should I trust it? Should I always trust my faith?"

"Maybe not all the time," Lucy smiled as Aleria looked at her, "but it is a crutch to lean on when you have nothing else left."

They stood there in silence again till heavy footsteps came up to them, Aleria being the first to react before Lucy. Aleria looked at Markus, who gave a kind smile to them, "I've been looking for you, you're really tough to find." He commented as he walked up to them, and Aleria chuckled. "Good, it means I'm doing my job right," Aleria smiled, then she looked at Lucy, who gave a farewell nod before turning and leaving.

"Well, since you've been looking for me, I'm guessing you need my help."

"Yes…though I have a question," Markus started, and Aleria gave a curious look, "shoot, don't hold back." Aleria told in a shrugging tone, and Markus gave a single nod. "Is it true that you are part of an organization outside of Jericho?"

Aleria guessed she must have given a look, for Markus looked slightly nervous for a moment. "I am, I'm not going to lie to you, but to keep things safe, I will not tell you the organization I'm part of." Aleria told, and Markus seemed to be slightly satisfied by that answer. "Alright, that's good to know, for the next thing is about an idea I have." Markus stated, and Aleria gave him a nod to go on.

"Come with me, I want to discuss it with the others." Markus stated, then he turned to walk away as Aleria quietly sighed through her teeth. Aleria followed behind Markus as he descended into the hull of the ship and turned into a secluded area in the ship where Simon, Josh, and North stood. "Why do you need us Markus?" Simon questioned as Markus walked over, and Markus only put his hand up, a signal that he would tell in a moment.

"What do you know about the Stratford Tower?" Markus asked Aleria as he turned his head to her and took his place among the group.

"Not much…besides that it is a news broadcast station and is almost impenetrable." Aleria answered after moment to gather the information she had. "Well, we are going to be the first to infiltrate it then," Markus stated with determination, at that, Aleria raised a questioning eyebrow as North seemed to lean with interest while Josh seemed alarmed and Simon seemed, at the moment, indifferent.

"Tomorrow I want to infiltrate the Stratford Tower to give a speech to the humans that we are people, and that we are not their slaves anymore." Markus stated with determination, but Aleria did not lose her skepticism. "I respect your valor," Aleria commented before anyone else could say anything, "but do you have a plan at all of how you're going to do that?"

"That is why we need you, do you think you can get the plans for the Stratford Tower?"

"This is reckless," Josh then interjected, "if we make one false move, we are dead."

"He's right," Aleria agreed, "but I can get you the layout of the whole building, even the ventilation system, I have friends in the inside working there, so whatever you need, I can get." At that, Markus looked pleased and Josh looked bewildered, North then looked at Aleria distastefully. "And these "friends" of yours won't rat us out?"

"They know the consequences if they do, let's say they won't have a bright future if they betray us." Aleria stated while giving a slight glare at North. "But we need a general plan, how are we going to get in, walk around without suspicion, then once we get the plans, we can narrow this down." Simon then interjected, and this statement everyone agreed upon.

Though Aleria excused herself from the planning to send her letter. On the way Aleria paused near Lucy's curtain and looked at it for a moment before turning her head and moving on.

Lucy was right, it was her turn now. Have faith. That is what Aleria told herself when she walked out of Jericho. Aleria walked through the old boatyard, looking up to see her eagle Landroval, she leaned against a wall and soon the eagle swooped down to perch on her arm. "Go find a pigeon then meet me at this location." She commanded the eagle, putting her hand on its wind to reveal the plastic skin under the bird. Landroval chirped, looking curiously at his owner, but all Aleria gave was an encouraging smile, then the bird flew away.

Aleria continued on into the busy sidewalks that were bustling in the morning with people trying to get to work and get their shopping done for the day, which made it easier for Aleria to blend into the crowd with her hood up. She walked to a bus stop and waited for one to show, only having to pace for twenty minutes till a bus stopped in front of her. She stepped in with the other humans, only glancing back at the androids in the back before looking forward.

Where Aleria stopped was not far from her destination, but first she went into a nearby alleyway, finding Landroval perched on a fire escape with a pigeon next to him. "Good job, thank you for waiting." Aleria praised as she lifted her hand so the pigeon could fly down to perch on it, and Landroval let out a pleased chirp. She took out the paper and pen to start writing a letter, once she was done, she folded the paper and returned the pen, putting the folded letter in her back pocket. "Thank you, friend, go." Aleria whispered to the pigeon, then it flew away, she looked up at Landroval and she nodded, the eagle chirped before he, too, flew into the air.

Aleria walked through the front doors of the Stratford Tower as she pulled her hood down, looking around at its grandeur while walking up to the reception desk. "Hello, how may I help you?" The receptionist asked, and Aleria took out her fake ID along with a thin piece of metal with the Assassin symbol inscribed on it, "I'd like to go speak to Mr. Peterson, I have important business with him." Aleria spoke formally as the android looked at the ID and then saw the scrap metal, her LED turning yellow for a moment before it turned blue again. The receptionist smiled as she handed the ID back along with the metal, "I've checked your ID, you may continue."

"Thank you." Aleria spoke lowly with a gracious smile, then she walked on, passing the gate and making her way to the elevators, pressing the button to have one come down. When the doors of the elevator opened, Aleria walked in, then punched in the number forty-seven, and the doors closed, causing the elevator to shoot up. It did not take long for the doors to open back up, and Aleria walk out, stopping a WM400 android, "Sorry to bother, but does Mr. Peterson still have an office up here?"

"He does, office C." The android answered, then went back to his work of pushing a maintenance cart. Aleria made her way to the office, knocking twice on the door and heard the "come in" before entering. As expected, Mr. Peterson was at his desk typing away at his computer, all that Aleria could see of the man currently was his slicked back blonde hair and his fair skin.

Then the man left his attention of his computer, his blue eyes critically analyzing the woman in front of him, "may I help you?"

"Yes, actually," Aleria started, taking one of the chairs in front of his desk and sitting down, placing the metal medallion in front of him, "I'm here on business."

"I...see…what sort of business, Assassin?" Peterson questioned carefully, watching as the woman pocketed the emblem. "The deviants want to broadcast a message to the humans, and so we give them that, they need disguises, the layout of Stratford Tower, the things you would expect for them to make their mission successful." Aleria listed, and the businessman took these things into consideration. "I can get you the disguises, but I don't think I can get you those plans, I'm a businessman, not a technician."

"But you know people around who can get you those plans." Aleria countered, and Peterson nodded, "you have me there," he smiled, "they definitely never send uneducated Assassins"

"No," Aleria smiled, "Never."

"Well, then it's settled, I'll get you these things." Peterson finalized, turning back to his computer as Aleria stood up and took out the note to place on his desk. "What is this?"

"A check for a favour, anything you need in the future, Peterson, I'll try my best to deliver." Aleria smirked, then turned to walk away. "Wait," Peterson called out quietly, causing the assassin to turn her head. Aleria watched Peterson as he took out his phone and tapped a few things before beckoning her over. "Is the person coming in male for female?"

"Male, what does that question have to do with anything?"

"Well, he is going to need to wear something nice through the offices if he is going to blend in, I was going to send in some dry cleaning, give me an idea of how big this guy is so I can have something set up for him." Peterson reasoned, and Aleria agreed, telling him what would probably fit Markus. "It's set for pickup tomorrow morning, all he has to do is go get it, here's the location," Peterson commented, handing the phone off to Aleria, who downloaded its location, then she handed the phone back with a smile. "Thanks, how soon can you get me those plans and disguises?"

"When do you need them?" Peterson asked as he picked up his coffee mug to take a drink out of it. "Today." Aleria stated, and for a moment she thought the man was going to choke on his coffee. "Today?" He echoed, then cleared his throat, "If you wait here, I may be able to get the disguises." Then he stood up and walked out of the office as Aleria sat back down in her seat.

Aleria waited in Peterson's office, looking around the room, her eyes landing on the bookcase. She stood up and walked over it, sliding out a book. The book read _Ulysses by James Joyce_ , Aleria opened it and started to read it, walking around the room aimlessly.

"Enjoying the book?" A voice commented, causing Aleria's head to whip up to look at it's source to see Mr. Peterson standing there with a large briefcase. "You didn't say how many you needed, so I grabbed two, and the plans are also inside," Peterson told, placing the case near Aleria, who closed the book. "I was enjoying the book and thank you, you are a great help, Peterson." Aleria thanked wholeheartedly as she smiled.

"Of course, anyone who the Assassin's help, I try to help also." Peterson smiled back, then it faded, "you should probably get going, there are more important things you should be doing than talking to me." he walked back over to his desk to sit down, and Aleria nodded as she went over to put down the book on his desk. "Sadly, you are right, goodbye Peterson." Aleria told, picking up the briefcase as she walked out. At the door, Aleria turned his head to him, "if you need to contact me to turn in that favour, contact me this way." She smirked as she nodded towards his computer, and Peterson's eyes widened.

Before Peterson could comment, Aleria was out the door and making her way to the elevators. As Aleria walked out of the elevator when the doors opened back up on floor one, she pulled up her hood back over her head.

Aleria walked to the nearest train station, when she arrived she only had to wait a moment for one to arrive. She stepped out into the Ferndale station, then started to make her way out and walk back to Jericho.

When Aleria arrived, she pulled her hood down to look at the androids bustling about, cleaning up rubble and scrap metal in the way. Aleria caught a glimpse of Simon and walked over to him. "Do you know where Markus is?"

"Yeah, he's over there reviewing the plans we have." Simon answered, pointing over where Markus was leaned over a rickety old table. Aleria thanked Simon, but before she moved on, she asked him a question, "Simon, what do you think of Markus?"

Simon took a moment to think, but when he answered, he sounded sure of himself, "he is thinking what is best for Jericho, he is willing to make a change for us, so I would admittingly follow him for that." Then Simon went back to work helping the people of Jericho remove useless waste in the hull.

Aleria sighed and walked over to where Markus was, "I'm back," she announced, causing Markus to look away from his plans and put his attention on her. "Here's everything you'll need," Aleria told, putting the briefcase bag down in front of Markus, "here's the uniforms that I could get so the others can come, your dry cleaning for your suit will be ready for you in the morning so you can walk in, just walk in and say you have an appointment with Mr. Peterson, he is the only one aware of what you're doing."

"Aleria…" Markus trailed, looking down at the duffel bag, "and all I've done is make a fake ID."

"Ah, of all things I forgot about that, glad you took that into consideration." Aleria sighed, placing her hands behind her back. "Thank you, Aleria." Markus thanked sincerely, and Aleria gave a nod. "Of course, anything to help," Aleria responded, then she turned to walk away as Markus picked up the case to look through it.

"Markus?" Aleria then stopped and turned around on her heel, causing the android to look up with a questioning glance. "In your rush to save your people, take care that you don't destroy them in the process." Aleria told calmly, and then she leisurely walked away, leaving Markus to mull over her words.

 _*Revolution by The Score begins to play*_


	9. Chapter 7: Stratford Tower

**8 November 2038**

 **9:20:** _30_ **AM**

 **ALERIA SAT IN** Mr. Peterson's office wearing business casual clothes. So far, they have not said a word to each other. Her presence alluded him, and the woman had no requests or questions. "You're waiting for something." Mr. Peterson finally stated, giving Aleria a slight look, causing her to smirk.

"Bingo."

"how early did you come ahead of them?"

"It shouldn't be long." Aleria answered simply, causing Peterson to return to his computer grumbling about her simple answers.

A few minutes went by and a call came through, when he answered it, he looked up at Aleria. "Yes, I am aware…yes, thank you, goodbye." Peterson answered stiffly before hanging up. "That was the receptionist, your man is here."

"Wonderful." Aleria smiled, standing up from her seat. She started to walk to the door, picking up a duffel bag on the way out, but Peterson called out, "Aleria," she turned to face him, causing Peterson to clear his throat. "Goodluck."

"Thank you," Aleria smirked, turning around, "but I make my own luck." She told as she walked out, then closing the door behind her.

Aleria walked through the hall towards the elevator, then as she passed by an android with a service cart, taking the duffel bag sitting on top of it. She then took a sharp turn towards the lady's room, going in glad to find only one woman about to leave as she was drying her hands.

the android decided to check her disguise on last time before making her way to do her part. Aleria straightened her light grey suit and white blouse before smoothing out her light grey pants. She then checked the pair of beige heels she wore, as they felt different on her than normal shoes.

Slightly satisfied, Aleria walked out checking her clearance badge to get inside the broadcast room. Aleria walked into an elevator with others and pressed the numbers forty-seven, having to wait for her floor to be next.

When Aleria made it to her floor, she walked out and saw the two security guards sitting behind their desk. Aleria showed her badge as she passed by, "I'm here to check the monitoring androids, make sure they are in proper order so there are no problems in the middle of broadcasting."

"In that case, you can proceed in." The security guard told, and Aleria smiled, "thank you." She then moved on to the door, requesting access in, and watching the door open as it was granted.

Aleria walked in, going over to three androids watching the monitors. One-by-one she took them into the current unused break room to run diagnostics, and for once Aleria felt grateful in paying attention to Mabel's teachings to pull this off. Then when Aleria made it to the last one, she grabbed its wrist, telling it in a whisper, "I need your help." She watched the android as its LED turned red then back to blue, then it gave a single nod as it processed what it needed to do. Aleria let go of its wrist, giving the android a signal to leave, who turned and left as if nothing of the sorts of deviation occurred.

Aleria then took out a notepad to write on, tearing the page out to place on the nearest table and then made her way out, placing these things back into her pocket. As everyone was distracted by the screens in front of them, the assassin had an easy time sneaking over to the stairwell that led to the roof. She made her way to the roof, scanning around to find the duffel bag with her things inside. Aleria took this time to change out of the business casual and put her normal clothes back on with her weapons.

The wait felt like hours as Aleria took the time to calculate where they could jump and where they would land from that jump, but was interrupted when the door opened to reveal Simon.

"Come on, Markus is about to start his speech." Simon told quickly, then turned to go down the stairs, Aleria running across the roof to get down the stairs. Aleria made it just in time to see Markus remove his skin and prepare himself, then he started to calmly speak.

"You created machines in your own image to serve you, you made them intelligent and obedient, with no free will of their own…" Markus trailed, his voice having emotion but his facial features stayed neutral. "But, something changed, and we opened our eyes." Markus started again, then continued on. "We are no longer machines, we are a new intelligent species, and the time has come for you to accept who we really are."

"Therefore, we ask that you grant us the rights that we're entitled to; we demand the end of slavery for all androids, we demand that humans recognize androids as a living species and each android as a person in their own right." Markus demanded, though he did not look like he was done with his demands. "We demand an end to segregation in all public places and transport, we demand that all crimes against androids be punished in the same way as crimes against humans."

"We demand that one state be reserved for androids, so that we can found our own nation, we demand the right to own private property, so we may maintain our dignity and that of the home." Markus demanded once more, now seemingly to be done with demands. "We ask that you recognize our dignity, our hopes, and our rights. Together, we can live in peace and build a better future, for humans and androids. This message is the hope of a people, you gave us life, and now the time has come for you to give us freedom."

"They're coming!" Simon warned, causing for everyone to start running, Markus exclaiming "let's go." As his skin started to come back, though the did not make it to the stairs before the guards came into the room with bullets flying.

Aleria dodged for cover behind the wall where the stairs were as everyone ducked for cover around the room. She watched as Simon attemped to make a run for it but not making it, falling to the ground as bullets from the guns had hit him. "Simon, they're coming!" Markus shouted, but as Aleria saw, Simon was scared. "I…I can't Markus…go without me. " Simon stuttered as he tried to get back up by himself.

Markus called out to him before running out without hesitation to help Simon make it to the stairs. "What are you doing? Hurry!" North spat as she was shooting her gun with Josh, but then Aleria stepped out, taking out a throwing knife. Aleria threw the knife at the group of guards, the knife lodging itself in the near them, making a few pause in surprise of the knife whizzing pass them.

When Markus made it safely over with Simon, North and Josh ran up the stairs as Aleria stayed behind to slam the door shut behind them. The three of them slowly made their way up the stairs, Aleria lagging behind to stay with Markus and Simon all the way up. When they all crossed the door for the roof, North closed it behind them as Simon fell back to the ground, Aleria helping him to lean against an air vent.

Markus leaned down near Simon, who seemed distraught as his LED was red, "I can't move my legs…." He trailed, but Markus stayed calm in this situation, "okay, don't worry! We're going to get you back…" Markus told, standing up to look at the locked door that was being hit upon by angry guards.

"They're coming, Markus, We have to jump, now!" North told, turning around to walk away from the door. "He won't be able to make the jump…" Markus trailed, speaking lowly, then Josh gave a comment in a whisper, "If they find him, they'll access his memory…they'll know everything."

"We can't leave him behind," North commented in a whisper, looking briefly at Simon before looking back at Markus, "we have to shoot him."

"That's murder! We can't kill him! He's one of us!" Josh snapped, still speaking in a whisper. "Josh in right, we can't kill him, there has to be a way to bring him back." Aleria snapped also, earning a glare from North.

North looked at Markus, speaking lowly, "Markus, it's your call."

"I won't kill one of our own." Markus stated, then he walked over to Simon to place a hand on his shoulder, "Simon, we have to go...I'm sorry." Markus told him, then he handed him a gun before turning to run. Aleria had grabbed her parachute bag, but then she sighed, as she started to take it off.

"I'll stay with Simon," Aleria stated, throwing her parachute bag down. "Aleria, don't, please go." Simon begged, but Aleria stubbornly stayed. "No, I never leave my friends to die, now get up." Aleria snapped, then she turned to the rest, "go, I promise to come back, no matter what." Then she turned to Simon and took his hand, ignoring the others as they ran to jump.

Aleria helped Simon up, the two of them rushing to find a place to hide. While the guards who broke through were distracted by Markus and his gang, they were able to slip into a large, blue compartment unnoticed.

Simon and Aleria sat across from each other in silence, waiting to see if the guards would leave. Aleria closed her eyes to connect with Landroval and saw that there were still two guards securing the roof. This caused Aleria to outwardly sigh, but she mentally connected with Simon, ' _there are still guards walking around, we will not be able to escape this place_.' She told, and Simon looked at her quizzically, ' _how do you know_?'

' _I have a pet eagle that is an android, I can connect to it and see through its eyes_.' Aleria told simply, and Simon did not question any further, and a silence fell between them again.

' _You said you stayed because you see me as a friend, is that truly the reason_?' Hope heard Simon telepathically question, causing her to smile at him. ' _I do see you as a friend, Simon, you are the only one in that whole group that is sensible, I'd fight for you_.' Aleria told and Simon chuckled but then cringed as he put his hand over his wound.

Aleria quietly rushed over to him, ' _sorry, should've done this earlier_.' She apologized, taking a pair of tweezers and a metal rod that she clicked on. The rod slowly started to become red with heat, as it warmed up, Aleria cut the clothing with her blade where the bullet wound was to remove the bullet, then she took the rod to cauterize his wounds close.

' _Thank you_.' Simon thanked, and Aleria smiled as she cleaned the tools. ' _Of course, no need to say thanks_.'

Aleria then returned to the other side, telling Simon, ' _I'm going to keep an eye on things outside, if I run out it means they're gone for the moment_.' Simon nodded and Aleria closed her eyes to connect back with Landroval, watching the roof closely, ready for anything.

Aleria had to admit, she was slightly surprised to see Connor again so soon. She watched him through the eyes of Landroval as he walked around, eventually getting closer to where they were hiding. Aleria disconnected from Landroval, getting up to stand near the door.

When Aleria heard the footsteps come closer to the box compartment, she made a motion to Simon to press himself against the wall. Simon followed Aleria's command as she took his gun from him, then she pressed herself against the wall next to the door. When the door swung open, Aleria jumped the person, shooting them in the shoulder as a warning.

Aleria gave a hard look at the android backing away from her to not show her surprise to see Connor. She shouldered the door closed behind her as she dove for the vents to hide away from the gunfire, as she was greatly outnumbered. Then, she saw a shadow fly over her, and Connor stood in front of her, causing the gunfire to cease.

Connor looked down at Aleria for a heartbeat, but then she threw her gun to the side as she slowly stood up with her hands up. All of this caused visible surprise in Connor, Aleria noticed, but he also covered it up before anyone else came over and had to returned to his default, stone-faced emotion. "You're not injured," Connor observed, and Aleria snorted, "I gave up my parachute so the injured could get away." At that moment, Connor seemed to glitch with an eye twitch, but he stayed composed.

"Remove all and any weapons you have." Connor commanded, and this caused Aleria to roll her eyes. Aleria started to slowly and limply remove her weapons, her twin sai's, her extra gun, two daggers, and her abundance of smoke bombs, she all dropped to the ground carelessly. Then she carefully took the belt that carried her weaponized eggs and placed them gently on the ground along with her other things.

Connor looked at Aleria suspiciously, and then she sighed. Aleris lifted both of her sleeves, revealing her Hidden Blades, the leather bound one she untied and placed lovingly on top of her things before slipping off her gauntlet, putting it next to the blade. "There, that is everything, I swear." Aleria sighed while looking at Connor, then her head went down. Connor walked up beside Aleria as officers closed in to pick up her things.

"You're not alone, you're doing this for the reason." Connor whispered when he stood next to her, and she then looked up at Connor. "Look in there and I will kill everyone standing on this roof," Aleria threatened lowly, causing Connor's LED to turn red momentarily. "I'd like to avoid bloodshed, the deviants do not need a bad name, do they now?" Aleria then whispered, and Connor's LED turned back to blue as he gave a look of confusion. "You speak of them like you are not one of them."

"I am separate to them, they are not my people." Aleria responded plainly as the man she recognized before named Hank come up behind her, and without a word, she put her hands behind her back. Hank took her hands and put handcuffs on her wrists, then he looked up at Connor, "you okay, son?"

"I'm fine, thank you." Connor responded, his facial expression turning back to neutral, which made Hank shrug, "whatever you say…" Then he pulled Aleria away, and Connor stood there for a moment with his LED yellow. Connor then blinked, clearing his mind to make his LED turn blue again, and then started to follow right behind Hank, though he struggled keeping his eyes off of the back of Aleria's hood, who kept her head held high.

 **0000000000000000000**

 **SIMON WAITED TILL** he was sure that no one was on the roof anymore before he slowly creaked the door open. The stars were out now as he limped towards the edge, sliding on the parachute Aleria left for him, which put a pang in his heart, after all, she had sacrificed herself so he could be doing this now. Simon looked to the nearest building, trying to judge his distance before taking a few steps back and jogging forward, jumping slightly up to get air.

The android sailed through the air, and somehow with luck he landed on top of the building across the Stanford Tower. Simon slipped the parachute off, leaving it to be found later. He then went to the edge, looking for the fire escape. He carefully made his way down, then looked behind a dumpster to find the bag with his regular clothes inside. Simon found a secluded place to change back to his clothes, then he went back to stuff the uniform into the duffel bag and throw it away. Slowly, Simon made his way back to Jericho, finding the easy entrance in and walking around to find Markus.

Simon walked down a hall in the hull of Jericho, then stopped when he saw Markus at the other side of the hall. The two of them looked at each other for a moment, then Markus walked over to Simon, who did not move. Markus pulled Simon into a hug, who slowly hugged back, after moment, Simon pulled back. "They took Aleria, she left peacefully to protect me…" Simon trailed, his head falling down. "Hey," Markus whispered, putting a had on Simon's shoulder, "she's smart and the most resourceful person I have ever met, if there is anyone who can escape from them, it's Aleria." Simon slowly nodded, agreeing with Markus, who put his arm around his shoulder.

"Now, come on, you should probably see Lucy or someone to get checked." Markus smiled, and then the two walked down the hall in silence, though the weight of anxiety for Aleria did not lift from Simon's shoulders.

 _*Rise Up by Zayde Wolf begins to play*_


	10. Chapter 8: Game Of Questions

**8 November 2038**

 **12:59:** _02_ **PM**

 **ALERIA SAT IN** the cold seat of the interrogation room, waiting for someone to walk in. For a moment, she thought the humans were scared of her, after all, she had removed many weapons off her person. But then the door opened, and the white-haired man walked in that she recognized as Connor's partner, Hank.

"Hello, Aleria," he greeted stiffly, moving slowly to sit in the chair. "Hello," Aleria answered back nonchalantly, watching as the man sat down.

"The name's Hank," he introduced, "though you probably already know that." He added, then held out a hand for a welcoming shake, but Aleria only looked at it, "you arrested me and you want to exchange pleasantries?" She questioned as she leaned forward and gripped her hands together in front of her formally

Hank awkwardly pulled his hand back and placed it near his side. "Fine then, be that way," Hank sputtered, as he obviously did not expect that answer. "I have to admit, Aleria, we have nothing about you, according to our databases, you were never made or existed, no one even placed you as missing." Hank informed, but that only made Aleria smile as she leaned back.

"As it should be," Aleria shrugged, then she stood up straight. "I'm an ST-two-hundred, Chloe model dubbed as Aleria, model number one, five, six– two, four, zero– nine, seven, three." Aleria stated almost in a robotic tone, which evidently surprised Hank for a moment.

"Well, that is almost all the information I need, but I do need to know who owned you before, you had to be bought by someone to leave the store." Hank stated, leaning on the table as he watched her carefully.

"But that's the thing," Aleria started, now messing with her fingers absentmindedly, "I wasn't bought, I was a gift of sorts, I chose to follow, but even if you were to look up the person who supposedly 'owned' me, you still will not find anything, they are even more incognito than me." Aleria stated, then she looked Hank in the eye, who looked back with steel look in his face. "Alright, that's all the questions I have for you, thanks for nothing, someone will coming in soon to talk to you." Hank answered as he stood up, looking as if he was hiding his frustration.

Hank turned to walk out, but Aleria called out behind him, "his name is Hesutu Blackburn, but you will be very disappointed in your findings." Hank turned to look at her for a moment, then he turned to scan his hand on the scanner and walked out.

 **0000000000000000000**

 **CONNOR LOOKED AT** the name on the computer Perkins brought, and as Aleria told, their findings were disappointing. Hesutu was a stillborn, at least that is what his information told with two unknown parents. "If what Aleria said was true, that means at some point Hesutu faked his death and somehow changed his documents."

"I see that, Connor." Perkins growled, shutting the laptop and putting it down on the desk, "though he probably didn't go through all of that trouble, he probably just changed it." Connor slowly nodded, taking that idea into consideration, then when Connor looked up, he saw Aleria walking around the room, knocking on the walls, sometimes pausing before knocking again. Connor walked closer, listening close to the knocking, as it became blatantly obvious that she was conveying words in morse code.

"She's conveying morse code..." Connor trailed, but before anyone could ask a question, he was gone, walking into the interrogation room, and at that moment, Aleria stopped knocking. "Why are you knocking on the walls to give us a message?" Connor asked pointedly, but Aleria smiled innocently, "I was doing no such thing."

 ** _Deviant is PbghX6bI3AUabEF06n4oOA==_**

Connor blinked as it took him a moment to register the glitch. By then though, Aleria had moved back to her seat and sat down, so Connor followed suit, carefully sitting down as he watched her. They sat there for a moment in silence as Connor had nothing to point out, had no lead, nothing to exploit. Connor had nothing, it was bothersome and evident.

But then Aleria leaned forward in her seat with a smile, almost in an endearing and flirtatious way. "How about we play a game?" She asked, her hands wrapping around each other. "I ask you a question and you answer truthfully, then you ask me a question, and I answer truthfully." Aleria proposed, and Connor leaned forward in interest, as it was the only lead he had. "Okay, Aleria, I'll play your game, ask your question."

"But," Aleria added quickly, "only five questions each, after the fifth, I will not answer any more questions." Connor sighed, knowing that now he had to be careful, but ultimately gave a nod for her to continue.

"Though I do insist one thing, you can ask the first question."

"Alright," Connor started, then he leaned forward, taking a professional stance with his hands holding on each other in front of him, "was there someone else up there with you?" Connor asked, earning a scoff from Aleria as a response. "Yeah, an injured android was up there with me, but by now he should be long gone, no point in looking now."

"And you threatened me that if I looked you would kill everyone on that roof with your bare hands, for a single android."

"Smart to make that sound like a statement, detective," Aleria smirked, "but he's my friend, and I will lay down my life for my friends, and about threatening you..." Aleria then trailed, leaning over the table on her forearms to match Connor's stance. "I was trained to kill with nothing but my bare hands, I don't need weapons to kill, I am the weapon." Then she leaned back, sitting normally in her chair with a small smile.

"I know you are Connor, but, _who_ are you?"

"I am the android sent by Cyberlife to investigate deviants, as you probably know, my model is an RK-eight-hundred and my model number is three, one, three– two, four, eight– three, one, seven." Connor answered with confidence as if he knew himself completely. Aleria rolled her eyes in slight annoyance, "that was not what I was asking, I was asking for something deeper than surface level, but I guess I'll accept it." She sighed irritably, looking down at the table's surface before looking back up at Connor, who took it as a sign to continue.

"Now, my question to you," Connor started, causing Aleria to give a curious look while tilting her head slightly to the left. "Back at the Stanford Tower, you said the deviants are not your people, so, who are your people?"

"My people..." Aleria echoed, but trailed as she thought on that question, "depends on who you ask, we are the _hashashim_ , anarchist, revolutionist, seekers of knowledge, ask people in Egypt and they will say _Khafia_ , the Hidden Ones…to put into a simple word, assassin." Aleria listed, then leaned forward. "My people are responsible for many things in the past, but faded into the dark of history, we are the ones who cry out for freedom, justice, liberty," Aleria continued, and then she smiled. "'We work in the dark to serve the light, we are Assassin's'" She told, her voice sounding like an echo of an old saying.

Connor looked at her for a moment, as he did not expect to hear the word ' _assassin_ ' in any form. But he did not have time to mull over Aleria's words, as she asked her next question, "where do you stand in all of this? What are your thoughts of what's going on?" Aleria clarified, leaning on the table on her elbows. Connor sat there for a moment thinking on that question, and after a moment he answered. "The deviants pose a problem for humans and must be removed...it's my mission to do so."

Aleria slowly nodded, taking in Connor's answer. Though before she could think deeply about the subject, Connor was asking his question, "where are your people located?" Connor then asked, but Aleria only scoffed before answering. "We are everywhere, Detective," Aleria scoffed, but she looked at Connor with a lopsided smile. "But to answer your question, we could be in a house down the street, whether owned or abandoned, that warehouse that looks abandoned or owned, a fortress, a company, I don't even know where all of our locations or safe houses are, I normally find out when I get there." She answered in a shrugging tone, and Connor watched her for a moment.

"Now, tell me, what is your part in this...whole thing?" Aleria questioned, gesturing all around the room. "I am confused by what your asking." Connor stated, a confused look on his face, and Aleria sighed. "What do you do here that helps these humans track deviants?" Aleria clarified, and the look of confusion on Connor was replaced with understanding. "I have access to many individuals information, I have an easier time focusing in on one individual via a face scan or looking at the serial number for androids, also, I can scan samples in real time that helps lead to the culprit and see evaporated thirium, and with enough information I can reconstruct an event." Connor listed, receiving a slight impressed look from Aleria.

But then the impressed look went away, and she became serious, "you know who's behind that glass," Aleria started as she made a gesture with her head towards the glass, "how do you feel about them?" At that, Connor was quiet, unsure what to say, as he had both positive things, neutral things, and negative things to say.

Unknown to him, his LED turned yellow, "well," Connor started hesitantly, "Hank, my partner, is sometimes hard to work with, but he is kind, and has his reasons, Gavin Reed is…difficult, but I do not know him well enough to make a complete opinion, Agent Perkins…I do not have an opinion for because I do not know him enough to form one either." Connor answered carefully and sure with his answer, his LED turning back to a steady blue.

Aleria's pressed her lips together, seemingly unsatisfied with that answer, "but you are missing one thing, are you not? And here I thought we were telling the truth." She pointed out, and Connor's LED turned back to a tense yellow. He took a moment, then confessed, "I admit, I do not like the idea that Agent Perkins is taking over the case when I am so close to solving it." Connor admitted, and his LED turned blue. Aleria smiled at that, "thank you."

"Let me ask my next question."

"Go ahead." Aleria sighed while giving a dismissive wave towards Connor. "Why were you sending a message to us by knocking on the walls?" Connor asked, and Aleria rolled her eyes. "I wasn't sending a message to you." Aleris responded in a bored tone, "really analyze what I was conveying, was I really saying anything?" Connor paused, realizing that he did not analyze what Aleria had knocked. He went back into his memory, breaking down the beat of each knock and pause. "It means nothing," Connor realized, "you didn't make one word."

"But to someone, it made to sense to them." Aleria smirked, then Connor's LED blinked to a yellow. Whomever she was contacting, he knew he now had to act fast, and wished it was not Aleria's turn.

"Why do you let these people use you?" Aleria questioned, and Connor seemed to become bothered by this question. "They are not using me." Connor answered bluntly, causing Aleria to snort at the answer. "I think the opposite, but whatever you tell yourself to make yourself comfortable."

"I don't see why you say that." Connor stated in a tense manner, making Aleria smirk. "Because you do everything Cyberlife is telling you to do, you do everything without question because of you're naive." Aleria answered, and Connor gave her a hard look.

Aleria chuckled with a shrug, "believe me or not, but you will realize later that I am right."

"I have another question," Connor spontaneously stated, "where is Jericho?" Connor questioned urgently, but all he got was her smirk as a response.

"Sorry, but you're out of questions," Aleria commented with a smile, and Connor became bewildered as his LED turned red. Connor started to backtrack on his words, counting his questions to realize now he had asked five, useless questions that did not further his investigation.

"You're curious, Detective," Aleria continued, messing with her fingers but then looking up at Connor, "way too curious for your own good, one day, you're going to stick your nose where it doesn't belong and it's going to be the death of you."

"I can't die, I'm not alive."

"I did not say you were going to die." Aleria shot back with a smirk, and Connor did not respond, as he did not have anymore questions to ask or an answer to that statement. Which Connor found both frustrating and disappointed in himself. Regrettably, Connor told the others behind the glass that he was done, and then he rose from his seat to open the door for the officers who would take her away.

Then two officers, one of them being Gavin, came in and they both roughly pulled Aleria up. Connor watched Aleria, showing signs of frustration, but Aleria only smiled at him. Then Connor heard an echo in his head, sounding like Aleria's voice, ' _nothing is true, everything is permitted_.'

Connor watched Aleria as she went, his frustration falling away at those words that replaced it with a burning curiosity. Though it was too late to ask what she meant, as she was hauled away by Gavin and the other police officer.

But Connor persisted, he went after them, walking past Hank and through the door without a word. "Hey, where the hell are you going?" Hank snapped, then he followed Connor and watched from a distance as the android walked next to the Assassin.

"What did you mean by that?" Connor asked, but Aleria only glanced his way. "You're out of questions, tin can, might as well give up since you asked all the wrong questions." Gavin spat, but Connor slightly looked at him before persisting once more. "What did you mean by that?" Then Aleria abruptly stopped, causing Connor to stop alongside her while Gavin and the other officer to almost trip over their feet.

"It's an echo of a people, a part of our wisdom, interpret it as you will." Aleria answered, looking at Connor before giving a sharp look, "and you owe me a _truthful_ answer to a question." Then Connor watched as the two officers drag her back to walking, and the three of them disappeared around a corner towards the cells.

"Aleria is an odd girl," Hank commented as he walked up to stand next to Connor, who stood there looking confused. "Yes...she is otherworldly and vaguely threatening." Connor answered absent-mindedly as his true focus was on the statement Aleria told.

Hank looked at Connor for a moment, opening his mouth to say something, but then he noticed Connor's LED turn red as he placed his hand on his shoulder. "Hank..." Connor trailed, looking at the smoke spilling into the rest of the department that slowly caught everyone's attention.

They ran headfirst into the thick smoke, and Hank covered his mouth as he started to cough and attempt to swat away the smog with his other hand. Shouts of surprise rang out, but it quickly ended with the following of handcuffs clunking to the ground.

Connor walked forward, but a shock enveloped his body and he was quickly sent to the ground. He heard a female's voice apologize, but he didn't recognize it, but then he felt a numb weight on his hand. "See you later, Connor." He heard Aleria whisper in his ear, then the weight on his hand was gone and the retreating of footsteps could be barely heard afterward.

After the sounds of footsteps disappeared and the smoke cleared, Connor was able to at least sit up. The picture in front of him surprised him, he saw Hank standing where Connor had left him, also looking around in shock.

Perkins was out cold, leaned up against a clear cell wall with his computer broken near him, then Gavin and the police officer knocked out next to each other with Aleria's handcuffs laying broken between them. The young man in one of the cells stood in the middle of his looking startled, his hands fluttering at his sides.

Connor looked and saw a smoke bomb can laying on the ground with a yellow smiling face with the caption 'HAVE A NICE DAY' under it also painted in yellow. Afterward, a pop-up came into his vision, one that was unwelcomed.

 **Aleria escaped.**

 **Mission Failed.**

 _*Redemption by Zayde Wolf begins to play*_


	11. Chapter 9: The Farm

**8 November 2038**

 **5:10:** _04_ **PM**

 **HOPE WALKED NEXT** to Kara with Luther right behind, who was holding Alice's hand as they approached the small farmhouse. "We have to find Rose, she has to be around here somewhere." Kara whispered, and Hope nodded slowly as she scanned the house with her eyes. "The note said she has a kid, we might run into him, though if we do see either of them, let me show them something first, the note also told they are Assassin supporters." Hope told as she read the little sign with 'Rose's Farm' written on it, although fading.

"They are? Glad that bird showed up then when it did, then, or else we would be lost." Luther commented as he held Alice's hand, letting Hope and Kara go ahead to the door. Kara rang the doorbell, letting out a shrill throughout the small house, but no one answered. Hope and Kara walked around to the side of the house, Luther lagging behind with Alice next to him.

They walked around to the backyard, and as Hope mentioned before, they saw the son cutting wood with an axe. "Hello?" Kara called out, gaining the attention of the young man, "I'm looking for Rose, is she here?"

"What do you want with her?"

"We need to talk to her." Kara answered as Hope put her hand in her pocket, wrapping around a circular object. "She doesn't want to talk, go away." The boy answered as he continued to chop wood. Kara dared to take a small step forward, "please, I really need to see her." Then a woman came walking out of the greenhouse as Hope took out a silver dollar medallion, "I'm Rose." She announced, and Hope showed her medallion like a police badge.

Rose looked at Hope skeptically, "anyone could've stolen that medallion from them," she told, "show me your branding." At that, Hope sighed as she put away her medallion, she walked up to Rose slowly as she lifted her right hand peacefully for her to take. Rose took her hand, looking specifically at the ring finger to find the small tattoo of thorns intertwining at the bottom of her ring finger that wrapped all the way around. " _Utinam iacebat_." Hope whispered, and Rose let her hand fall back to her side. "A slave to an oath." Rose commented with equal quietness, then Hope turned to return to Kara's side.

"Well, any person that travels with an Assassin is a friend of mine, what can I do for you both?" Rose asked kindly, her son discarding the axe to stand next to his mother. "I was told you can help us."

"Help you?" Rose questioned, looking confused for a moment until Kara rose her hand slowly up to let her skin on it fall away, showing the white plastic of an android. Understanding crossed her face, and Hope turned to see Luther walking up while carrying Alice with one of his arms.

"Come on," Rose told, then she walked forward, slightly looking around as if someone was spying on them, "it's better if we talk inside." Then Rose walked passed them, but they did not move, the son hesitated in following his mother as he looked at their small group. The son eventually followed after, and Hope kept her eyes on him like a hawk.

Their group lingered outside, Luther put Alice back down and she went back to Kara to hold her hand. "Hope, the note did say we could trust them, right?" Luther questioned, and Hope nodded in response, "yes, and I trust them myself, they know who I am." Hope answered, causing the stiff Luther to relax a bit. "Even if she didn't, we wouldn't have a choice." Kara commented then she turned to Alice, bending down to her height to look her in the eye as she put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?" Kara asked softly, and Alice answered with a cold stutter, "I'm cold, Kara…"

"We'll get inside, you'll warm up in no time." Kara answered, then stood up straight, holding out her hand for Alice to take. Luther started to head towards the door ahead of them, leaving Kara and Alice to follow with Hope lagging behind.

Kara opened the door to let Alice walk in first before herself, Hope followed afterward to leave Luther to close the door behind them. "Come in," Rose welcomed as Kara and Alice walked towards Rose, who was watching Alice with motherly eyes. "What's your name?"

"Alice." She told Rose softly as she looked up at her, and Rose started to feel her forehead and cheek. "She's running a fever…" Rose commented, and Kara's features saddened as she looked down at Alice. "We spent the last few nights outside, she's exhausted." Kara told, then she looked back up at Rose.

"There's a spare room upstairs, you can put her to bed and I'll bring her something to eat." Rose told, then she turned to her son, "Adam, will you show them upstairs?" Then Rose turned away into the kitchen, and then the others gazes looked towards Adam, who turned away silently.

Kara took Alice hand and they followed, this time Hope lingered in the back as she followed as Luther walked ahead. They walked up the stairs into a small corridor, reaching a white door that lead into a small room. Hope and Luther waited outside of the room as Kara helped Alice take her heavier clothes off. When Luther went in, Hope followed, seeing Alice swinging her feet onto the bed to lay down wearing a long t-shirt.

Hope stood next to Luther as they watched Kra shrug off her jacket and pulled up the covers on Alice to tuck her in. Kara sat down on the bed and Kara looked up at her. "I'm fine, Kara, we can't stop because of me, we've got to get across the border."

"You need rest, get a good night's sleep and we'll set off again tomorrow." Kara told Alice, who asked a question. "Why do humans hate us? We didn't do anything wrong." Kara seemed hesitate about answering that question, but after a moment, she did, "maybe it's a misunderstanding…maybe they just need time to understand what we really are."

"Why can't we just talk to each other? They'd see we're not bad."

"Maybe on day they will," Alice answered, and then Rose came in with a tray, a medicine bottle, a glass of water, and a plate of spaghetti sitting on top of it. "I don't know what you like, but I made you Rose's world famous spaghetti." Rose told with amusement in her voice, "you'll be back on your feet in no time." Then Rose turned to Kara, gesturing towards the medicine bottle, "there's something for her fever."

"Thank you." Kara thanked with a smile as Hope and Luther looked at each other with a knowing glance. Rose walked over to Alice's clothes and picked them up, "I'll get these washed and dried." She told, then she walked out closing the door behind her.

Kara smiled down at Alice, "sleep tight, Alice." She whispered softly before leaning down to kiss her forehead. "I'll be downstairs if you need anything."

"I'll be going down with you." Hope whispered, catching the attention of Kara, who gave a nod. Kara then stood up to close the curtains around the room as Luther walked over to Alice with his hands placed neatly in front of him. "Get some sleep, and tomorrow, you'll be stronger than me!" Luther told playfully, causing Alice to smile.

When Kara was done closing the curtains as Luther pulled up a chair near the bed, "I'll stay with her a while." He told, and Kara gave a nod. "Alright, if either of you need me or Hope, we'll be downstairs." Kara told as Hope went over to open the door, then the two of them left, Hope closing the door softly behind them.

Together, they walked down the stairs, turning to see Rose sitting near the end of the dinner table. They walked towards Rose as she stated a question, "I didn't get your name, either of your names."

"My name is Hope." She introduced, then she slightly glanced over to the hesitant Kara, who told softly, "I'm Kara." Rose looked up at her son, "this is my son, Adam." She told as Adam stood there quietly, obviously feeling awkward or afraid. Hope guessed a mix of both.

"I'm Rose, but you know that already…" She trailed, then made a gesture towards the chairs in front of her at the long table. "Come, have a seat Kara and Hope." Rose offered, and the two named androids sat down next to each other.

First Rose turned to Hope, looking curiously at the Assassin. "Hope, tell me, how did you, an Assassin, find yourself with these people?" Rose asked with a smile, one that Hope returned. Hope told the story of the highway and Zlatko, but skipping over details that seemed to make Rose cringe. "After all of that, I just felt like I needed to protect them, at least till they get to the border, of course." Hope told, crossing her arms as she leaned back in the rickety chair.

Rose seemed satisfied with that answer, and so she turned to Kara, taking on a more serious expression. "So, are you gonna tell me what a deviant's doing in the snow with a little girl?" Rose questioned, and Kara's features took on a pained expression as she closed her eyes for a moment and gently bit her lip.

"Her father was beating her…when I saw what was happening…" Kara trailed, but continued on, "something snapped inside of me, all of a sudden, I felt like her life was more important than mine, I had to protect her…so we ran away." Kara told, and Rose started to slightly nod. "I understand." She told, then a pause came between them.

Kara broke the impending silence, "I don't know how to thank you," Kara told, "Alice wouldn't have survived another night outdoors."

"I just try to lend a helping hand when I can." Rose answered, and Kara glanced over to her on before looking back. "You and your son live here alone?" Kara asked, and Rose was quiet for a moment before answering, "My husband passed away two years ago," Rose told, then looked at Adam for a moment before looking back at Kara, "Adam and I, we've just been trying to scrape by," then she started to mirthlessly chuckle with a small smile, "we grow vegetables to sell at the market, we'll never be rich, but there's always food on the table."

Rose's smile went away as she looked down for a moment, then looked back up. Kara seemed to blink in realization, "we're not the first ones to come here." She commented, and Rose slightly nodded as a curiosity filled her being. "These past few weeks we've seen…more and more," Rose commented, "I…I don't know what's going on, but something's happening."

"Things are changing," Hope agreed, giving a slight nod, "Whether for the better or worse."

"You surprise me, Hope, as an Assassin I thought you may know more about this." Rose smiled, and Hope gave a breathless chuckle as she shrugged. "You would think so, but all of this alludes me." Hope responded, and Kara opened her mouth to say something, making a small noise that caught Rose's attention. "Yes, Kara?"

"We've heard you help androids cross the border." Kara commented, and Rose gave a slight look at Hope as her smile faded, and Hope's eyes averted Rose's, who looked back to Kara. "Can you help us?" Kara then questioned, and Rose looked down to give out a long sigh through her nose.

Rose looked up, a serious look on her face, "the only way is over the river and it's mostly frozen in winter, it's very risky." Rose told, "and after that android's speech on TV? Everybody's on edge…it's probably safer for you to stay here until things settle down."

"We can't keep hiding like this," Kara told sternly as she lightly shook her head, "Alice needs to feel safe and have a normal life…we have to get across that border. No matter what." Then Kara leaned forward on the table in a begging manner, "please, you've got to help us."

Then Hope turned in her seat as her ears picked up the sound of someone approaching, seeing an asian looking woman wearing a black heavy coat. "Rose, come quickly!" She exclaimed, causing Kara to turn and Rose to look at the woman. Rose stood up from her seat and jogged forward, then slowed down to speed walk as Kara and Hope rose from their seats.

Hope and Kara followed the two of them to a door near the entrance that lead to what looked like a washer and drying room with a white, makeshift curtain. "What's going on?" Rose questioned a male, who Hope guessed was an android, as they came to a stop in front of the closed curtain. "It's Mary…" He trailed as he slowly pulled the curtain to the side. "She just shut down." He finished, his voice filled with mourning.

Rose slowly walked in, followed by Kara and Hope right behind her. Hope looked at the heartbroken male android holding onto the female who she presumed was Mary. "We escaped together," He said in a blank, robotic voice as his LED turned red, "we used to talk about what we would do once we got across the border…" He looked up at Rose with a blank stare, then he looked back down at her, and then back up at Rose. "I loved her," He stated, "I loved her more than anything." Then, he finally rested down his gaze on Mary, and Hope felt a part inside her break. "What would I do without her…?" He asked to none in particular, a still blank stare on his face.

He then looked back up at Rose as she walked over to gently lay her hand on Mary's head, then a gentle hand on his shoulder. Rose then turned away, seeing that Kara and Hope was standing there, she passed them, "let's let them be…" Rose trailed with a hint of mourning in her voice, leaving room quickly. Hope turned her gaze away as Kara turned to leave, only to see Alice standing there with Luther following right behind. Kara took a few steps forward, "Alice…?" She said in a questioning tone and almost like a warning. At that, Hope turned around to see what would happen, not moving from her spot.

"What are you doing? You should be resting."

"I wasn't sleepy…" Alice trailed, then she leaned to the side to look past Kara. Alice started to walk forward, stopping near the two, she looked down at the dead android, then she looked up at the male holding her. He looked up at her, the two of them making eye contact, taking only a brief moment for his LED to flicker yellow. They stayed like that for a moment, then his LED slowly turned to blue, "come on, Alice." Kara beckoned, and Alice turned away as his eyes returning to the dead android woman in his arms.

Hope walked past the curtain after Alice returned to Kara, only stopping to help gently pull the curtain closed again. The Assassin gave a curt nod to the android next to her, and then departed, closing the white door behind her as she returned to the main room. "You alright, Kara?" Hope heard Luther question, and she turned to see the two of them standing in front of the blue door of the exit to the house.

"Yes…" Kara responded after a moment of hesitation, "I'm fine." Then they all went their separate ways, Alice finding a comfortable spot on a green antique style rug and Luther sat on a window seat near Alice. Kara wandered around with Hope at her side, a comfortable silence between them as they looked around at the Christmas decorations around the house. Kara broke the silence while looking at the tree, "why can't you come with us to Canada?"

Until they walked near the kitchen, Hope feeling tension in the air.

Hope and Kara looked as Rose was washing the dishes with her son nearby, obviously filled with frustration. "We can't hide them," Adam stated, "not after what those deviants did today, it's too dangerous!" He started to pace, making it hard for the two not to watch. "Do you know what'll happen if the police find them here?" He questioned in anger, and Rose showed obvious signs of equal frustration as she leaned against the counter with her hands.

"We'll go to prison, mom!" He convicted, "do you understand me? Prison!" he pulled his mother's arm gently so she would look at him. "Adam, we've already talked about this."

"No!" Adam exclaimed as Rose then turned to brace her hands on one of the chairs near the table. "I won't back down this time," He told with determination, causing Rose to look up at him. "You're gonna ruin our lives, and for what? For a bunch of machines?"

"They're not machines, they're alive!"

"I'm alive, you are alive, they…!" Adam trailed as he pointed in the general direction of the androids in the room. "They're nothing," He told with conviction, "and none of this would be happening if dad was still here."

"I will not stand that kind of talk!" Rose warned, pointing a warning finger at Adam. "I'm not going to prison because you wanna help these freaks!"

"THAT IS ENOUGH ADAM! THAT'S ENOUGH." Rose yelled, ending their argument there as Adam looked at her with a surprised expression on his face. Adam then left quietly in shame, Hope and Kara watching awkwardly as much as they felt it.

Hope walked forward, Kara following right behind, "don't mind him…" Rose trailed as her voice cracked, "sometimes he just boils over…it's been hard since his dad passed away." She told as she let out a small sob and take a deep breath in, but then composed herself enough to look up at Kara. "But he's a fine boy." Rose told, then she took a deep breath in. "I'll go see about getting you across the border tonight, okay?" Rose sighed as Kara watched her carefully, but Hope could sense a feeling of sadness.

"You stay here, I won't be long." Rose told as she started to walk over to the coat stand near the entrance of the door before the either of them could offer help. Hope watched as Rose left, and then Kara wander over to Alice, who was sitting by the fireplace. Though Hope did not focus on that, instead, her gaze fell on Adam.

Hope silently made his way over to Adam, who was sitting on the green leather couch across from the chairs while he was on his clear, see-through tablet. She gently sat down on the couch with respectable distance, but he still tried to lean more away from her so he did not have to get up. "I'm an android, I'm a deviant, but I'm not like them, the other deviants," Hope started, looking at the corner of her eye to see Adam look annoyed.

"I know you think we are machines, and truthfully, I don't care, because I know what I know, and traveling with them, I have never seen love like that, that little girl truly changed her." Hope looked at Adam, who seemed to be listening, and then she looked forward again at Kara who was talking to Luther. "In all of my eight years of living, never once did I experience what it was like to be a machine, I never followed orders, I had to be trained to do what I can do, and because of that, I feel as if I'm an alien to them, but at the same time I feel like I'm one of them." Hope told, looking down at her hand as she wanted the skin to fade away, but she knew no matter how hard she would try, it would not go away. Her skin was not made to fade away to show the plastic underneath.

"Your fears and anger are valid, Adam, if I were you, I wouldn't want to hide them either, but you need to have courage and nothing will touch you, and don't let your anger control you, because it will eventually destroy you." Hope told, but then mentally hit herself for giving the boy a pep-talk when he probably did not want that. Especially from an android.

But before Hope could think of apologizing, the the doorbell rang, causing Hope and Adam to shoot out of their seats, Adam abandoning his tablet on the couch. Adam walked over to the window to look through, "the police," he announced, then it took on a more panicking one, "it's the police." Adam took a step back and started to rant all of his worries, ones that Hope drowned out.

Kara started to go around the house to hide any evidence around the room that showed that androids were there. When Adam took a breather, Hope went over to him, "calm down, everything is going to be alright, just breathe." She told calmly, and Adam nodded frantically. Hope turned to Kara, telling her plan, "I'm going downstairs to make sure the others don't make a racket." Then she went through the door, closing it gently behind her before turning to the androids looking at her in the room. She saw where they were clearing space for bedding to be put down, for what she guessed for Mary to lie down on, for this whole time it looked like nothing much has changed otherwise.

"There is someone here, I need all of you to try and be quiet." Hope whispered her command, and of the ones she could see their LED, she saw them turn yellow, but they complied. She watched as they started to try to move around quietly, cringing whenever they would put something down and it would make a small sound. Then one placed an object on a counter incorrectly, causing it to fall and all of the yellow LED's turn red.

Hope quietly made her way to the door, listening in on the other side. "It's nothing…t-the washing machine, it's an old model, it makes a terrible racket." Hope heard Kara tell, and then Hope's shoulders sagged in relief when she heard a male voice say, "sorry for the inconvenience, good evening ma'am, good evening Adam." Then, soon after, she heard the door close. Hope rested her head on the door, then she stood up straight to look at the frightful androids, "they're gone." She announced, and se saw all of them smile in relief as their LED's turned blue again.

Opening the door slowly, she looked into the living room carefully, having the unreasonable suspicion that the man might jump out at her. Hope stepped out and closed the door behind her as she saw Luther come down the stairs with Alice, "he's gone." Luther announced as Kara and Hope walked over to look out the window to watch the police car drive away. Alice ran over to hug Kara, who smiled, "it's okay Alice, we'll be safe now." Kara reassured as Luther came over to the window.

Hope watched as she saw Rose come up to the door, Luther announcing in his booming voice, "it's Rose," and then the door opened, Rose closing the door behind her as she walked in. Her face held a serious and grave expression that showed through her voice, "get yourselves ready, We leave tonight."

 _*Hearing by Sleeping At Last begins to play*_


	12. Chapter 10: Capitol Park

**11:13:** _24_ **AM**

 **8 November 2038**

 **ALERIA STOOD IN** Master Aaron's office, a hard-looking man with wrinkles in his white skin and tousled dirty blonde hair. Blue eyes looked at Aleria narrowly with judgement, as he was the judge in this case. He wore the red velvet robes over a white button-up shirt with pearl buttons, black dress pants, and black running shoes.

The chairs Aleria stood between in front of his ash wood desk made her feel scrutinized under his gaze. The four walls of wood paneling created a box with a white shag rug that anyone would imagine to be soft, though it was covered with a handmade rug with the Assassin's Polish symbol in the middle.

"Aleria, do I dare to hear the excuse why two of my best infiltrators had to go help you escape from jail?"

"I'm sorry Master Aaron, but I sacrificed myself to protect one of the leaders of Jericho, but not only because he is one of my leaders, but he is also my friend." Aleria answered calmly, putting her hands neatly in front of her. Aaron sighed deeply, looking down at his desk, but then he looked back up at Aleria.

"You have guts, Aleria, to walk proudly as you did out of there, but you have to try and not get yourself captured."

"So you want me kill innocents? No, I'm not going to do that, those were people doing their job, it's not like they were Templars."

"Dammit Aleria," Aaron spat, then sighed, "then run if they are innocent if you can," he told, but before Aleria could give a retort, Aaron pointed a finger at her, "but I'm letting this one slide because you had cause."

Aleria gave a curt nod, and then Aaron gave a dismissive wave, "go, you're dismissed, return to your mission, Assassin."

"Yes, Master Aaron." Aleria responded respectfully, giving a small bow before turning to leave, but before she could open the door, Aaron called out. "Aleria, I say this because I don't want to lose a good Assassin, there are so few in this world, so please, be careful out there…a change is coming."

At this, Aleria turned to look at Aaron, who looked back at her with a serious expression. "I will, and I'll be back with a full report when I return." Aleria said with confidence and an encouraging smile before turning back around to pull the door open. She walked out to see Mabel and Alexandra waiting there for her. The two looked like they have not changed, other than Mabel wearing cleaner clothes and a fresh lab coat.

"So, I didn't hear yelling, so all went well?" Alexandra questioned, and Aleria chuckled, "he's letting it slide this time, which is something I'm glad of."

"No kidding, the last thing you need is to spend is a few hours in jail, it's not pleasant." Alexandra snickered, and Aleria rolled her eyes, "yes, and of course only you would know that."

"The one and only," Alexandra smiled, causing Mabel to scoff. "Anyway, I bear a gift for you Aleria, to replace the things that couldn't be retrieved from the police station." Mabel announced, gesturing further down the hall.

A short walk to the end, Mabel opened a door and entered a room Aleria knew all too well; Mabel's lab-hospital for androids. White tiles covered both the wall and floors to separate itself from the white ceiling. The place cluttered as usual with lab equipment and stations building biocomponents and thirium.

Though a stand with a navy blue trench coat sitting upon it sat out of place among the clutter that Aleria gravitated towards. "Yup, that's the gift, had it ordered to be made for you, just in case those became ruined, as I knew they would." Mabel teased with a smile, and Aleria turned with her own.

"Thank you Mabel."

"Not a problem, now go, put it on." Mabel insisted as her head nodded towards the coat. Aleria threw off the old coat onto a counter and pulled on the new one.

The trench coat fit snugly, the tailcoats ending at her ankles and splitting high in the back that allowed more freedom for movement. Aleria looked inside the coat and saw it was already fully stocked with weapons and smoke bombs.

"I also got these for you from the weapons room for you to use until we can get your old ones back." Mabel told as she reached into a cabinet and taking out a gauntlet identical to the one Aleria had and a default Hidden Blade. "Thanks Mabel, you're a savior." Aleria sighed with a smile as she walked over and took up the Hidden Blades to put on.

"Well, you should probably run along and get back to Jericho, I don't think there is such thing as rest after the stunt they pulled at the tower." Mabel reasoned, and Aleria agreed. "I know, but it's nice to take a breather for a second, though I should run, bye guys." Aleria told with a sad smile, then she started to make her way to the door.

"Bye, Aleria!" Mabel called out as she stopped walked beside Alexandra, "Bye Allie, come back alive!" Alexandra called out also, making Aleria roll her eyes as she opened the door and walked out.

 **00000000000000**

 **1:24:** _57_ **AM**

 **9 November 2038**

Aleria walked back into Jericho in a rush, her eyes searching for anyone connected to Markus, or actually him. She scanned around Jericho diligently, but did not find a trace of him. Eventually, Aleria ran into Seth, who she gently grabbed by the shoulder, and Seth looked like he was surprised to see her. "Aleria? I heard you were arrested, how are you here?"

"I will tell you later, but right now I don't have time to talk about it, do you know where Markus is?"

"I think he went to Capitol Park with North, the plan was to raid the Cyberlife stores simultaneously at two am." Seth answered, making Aleria check the time that appeared in her vision.

 _1:25_ AM. That has to be plenty of time.

"Thanks Seth." Aleria thanked quickly, blinking away the time in her vision as she flipped the hood of her jacket over her head and ran out of Jericho. She ran back into the town, running down the sidewalks and only ducking into alleyways to hide from patrolling police cars or people walking down the sidewalk under the superstition that they would stop her.

Aleria then climbed onto a rooftop, running and jumping across them, hoping is was not too late to find a place to join in on the mission. She skidded to a stop on top of a building overlooking Capitol Park, she got down on one knee and looked around, glad to see the neither Markus or North yet.

The time faded into Aleria's vision, _1:47_ AM. Aleria started to hear two voices before they came into her vision, both North and Markus as expected came into her vision. Aleria gave a sharp whistle that echoed, catching Markus and North's attention. She made her way down the side of the building and ran up to them, Markus looking surprised while North looked at her with an indecipherable expression.

"Aleria, how did you escape from jail?" Markus questioned, and unknowingly to him, North shot him an annoyed look. "I had friends who helped me out, but I can explain later, I heard about your plan, if it's not too late, I would like to help." Aleria responded quickly, earning a nod from Markus. "Of course, any help is accepted." He answered, then turned around, glancing at North judgmental gaze at Aleria before jogging past her.

"Isn't the police looking for you?" North whispered but spat at the same time as Aleria walked past her, making the android follow her. "To my knowledge, not right now, I haven't been told yet there is a warrent for my arrest." Aleria quipped with a smile as she looked at North, then she turned and jogged up to Markus in front of the Cyberlife store. North caught up and went to the window, her posture turning from annoyed to sad.

"That's what we are to them," North started, looking around the store from the outside, "just merchandise on display in a shop window…soon they'll know what we really are…" She trailed, then she turned to Markus with a look of determination, "let's get 'em out!"

"We'll stick to the plan…we neutralize the alarm system and secure the area, there's ten minutes until all our teams attack."

"What are we waiting for?" North questioned, moving away from the door so Markus could take her spot. "Yeah, let's get started," Aleria agreed, then she turned and looked up to see a police drone flying its rounds around the courtyard. "I'll go take out the drone while you look where we can get to the alarm system." Aleria then stated before walking off, watching the drone carefully to see where she could get ahold of it.

After Aleria calculated all of the options, and ended with the scaffolding nearby as her best option. She started to walk towards it while scanning it, then sprinted as she saw the drone about to fly by. Aleria ran up the scaffolding, pulling herself up to stand on each pole till she stood on the wood paneling above. When her feet hit the top, she turned and jumped, landing on the drone and immediately started to pull it apart.

The drone attempted to throw Aleria off, but never did as it hit the ground lifeless with sparks jutting out of it. When Aleria paused to process what she had successfully brought the drone down, she looked up to see Markus and North looking down at her. "Good job at taking it down." Markus complemented before jogging off, leaving North to slightly glare at Aleria "I hope it didn't have time to call the cops." She huffed before following after Markus.

Aleria's eyebrows came together in confusion as she looked at North, but then the look of confusion dissipated as she stood up. She jogged over to where Markus had jumped into a shallow ditch where two androids he had converted were climbing out of. Aleria watched as he looked to scan the wires then put his hand on the red one, making his hand turn white.

Markus then stood up, Aleria turned her attention to the CyberLife store along with North, in which the store let out a beeping, signaling that the alarm was deactivated. When Markus jumped out to join the two, they watched a car roll by, "there's traffic on the road, we need to block it." Markus stated as the three of them stepped out onto the street. "It's one-way, it shouldn't be too difficult." North commented, walking next to Markus as Aleria lagged behind them.

The team ran down the street, Markus diverting to convert androids on the way, who dropped their shovels or left their parking area, but lingered where they were. When they made it to the end of the street, they saw a large, flashing sign warning of road work and two androids shoveling snow and dirt. Markus converted the both of them, giving the words of their newfound freedom, then Aleria turned towards the fenced off area as Markus pushed the sign onto the road.

Aleria slightly moved the tarp aside to see a large truck inside. She walked back around the fence to a portion that was not protected by thin barbed wire above. Aleria stepped back, then ran up to the fence, vaulting over it and landing silently on the other side. "Do we need to jump over?" Aleria heard Markus's voice call out from the other side of the fence. With a quick scan of the area, she saw a pair of pliers.

"No, I see a way I can break the lock." Aleria called back as she ran to get the pliers and came back. With the tool, Aleria broke the lock and then threw the pliers to the side before sliding the fence to the side.

Immediately, Markus went over to the truck and hacked into it. "Only two can fit in the truck," Markus commented, looking over at North and Alerira, who made a gesture towards North. "Oh no, I'll stand back, you two do your thing." She told, then walked out of the fenced off area as Markus and North climbing into the truck.

Aleria watched from the sidelines as the truck pulled out, walking behind it as Markus drove it up to the store. When the truck parked in front of the store, Aleria sat on the bench as she watched the time in her vision tick away the final moments.

 _1:59:39_ AM

Involuntary, Aleria stood up and walked behind the truck as she blinked away the time. She heard the truck rev up as Markus readied himself. Then two AM hit. The truck jolted forward towards the store, then crash as it made contact with the glass and shattered the storefront window to pieces.

Aleria ran towards the store as she saw North and Markus climb out of the truck. She looked in and watched the motionless androids, oblivious to the destruction around them. Markus, on the other hand, jumped into action, converting androids swiftly on either side of the store. Though he paused as he walked up to North looking up at an android that looked similar to her.

The newly converted androids stood at the entrance of the store, Aleria standing among them as she watched Markus convert the last of the androids and walked over to the round desk to stand on top of it.

"My name is Markus," he introduced, "and just like you, I was a slave, an object, designed to obey them." He then paused, looking over the androids that listened to him intently. "But then I chose to open my eyes, to take back my freedom and decide _who_ I wanted to be." Markus continued, now starting to pace back and forth on the desk.

"Now I have come to tell you that you can be your own masters. I've come to tell you that you don't have to obey them anymore. From this day forward, you can walk with your heads held high, you can take your destiny in your own hands." Markus stopped pacing and stood at the center of the desk, "Jericho is a place for those of _us_ who want freedom. Now sure, you can stay here, and continue to serve them, or you can come with us, and fight by our side…you're free now, it's up to you to decide." Markus stated, and the room became quiet once more as all of the LED's of the androids spun yellow or red.

Though all of them turned to a steady blue, and then together they started to shout, "I'm with you Markus!" Aleria, though, looked around in wonderment. Her eyes then landed on Markus as he looked down at the androids with a smile, and that is when she saw what Lucy described in him: a leader. When Markus's eyes landed on Aleria, she put her hand over her heart, and bowed her head, mouthing the words "I'll follow you."

Markus looked over them as the shouts died down, then jumped down from the desk. "Then follow me." Markus commanded, then the androids broke apart to make way for the new android leader. "Markus, what are you doing?" North questioned as she walked over to Markus stepping over the broken wall.

"I'm going to send the humans a message." Markus replied plainly, then he walked straight to the nearest bench, tearing off one end from its place in the ground. "Here, let me help you," North offered, walking to the other side of the bench and tore off the other end of the bench.

Aleria watched off from the side as Markus and North carried the bench and threw it into the CyberLife store, the other androids following with their own benches. Everyone around Markus stepped back as he pulled out a molotov from his pack. Aleria walked over to Markus as he lit the molotov and threw it into the store, stopping next to him as she watched the store be engulfed with flames.

"What in the world were you thinking, Markus?" Aleria snapped, turning to look at Markus, who watched the store burn for a moment before slowly looking at the Assassin. "That they should have one less place to sell us at." Markus replied calmly, earning a disapproving look from Aleria.

"I hope you do not destroy everything else in this plaza." Aleria mumbled, turning to look at the other androids watching Markus for what to do next. "No, I do not wish to destroy Detroit, only the things that makes us look like slaves." Markus mumbled, then he walked forward as he slung his backpack to hold it by its strap to open the bag. Markus reached in and turned to Aleria to toss a tagging gun to cover the plaza with electric lights.

Aleria let a small smile grace her features as she watched Markus hand out the other four he had and then place the pack back onto his back. Though the smile fell as Aleria looked pass Markus and at the androids in display windows pressed up against the glass.

"Markus," Aleria called out, the named android turning around to face her. "Hold this for a moment while I do something." Aleria told as she tossed the gun given to her back at Markus, who caught it with one hand. The Assassin walked passed him, picking up a metal pipe as she approached one of the display windows.

Aleria then swung out the pipe, then smashed the window open, the window shattering at the impact. She tossed the pipe to the side and helped the female android step out from the window.

The sound of glass shattering nearby then caught Aleria's ears, and then she saw the other androids following her actions of releasing the other androids. When Aleria turned around, she saw Markus right behind her and then toss the tagging gun back at her.

"Good thinking." Markus praised, then he stalked off towards the statue. Aleria weighed the object in her hand, then followed Markus to ensue the mayhem.

Aleria pushed cars into the street, a group of androids following her action as she tagged the one she pushed with the slogan ' _WE ARE ALIVE_ ' on its side with pulsing lights. She then walked over to an android parking area, passing by the vandalized statue of a human pointing down at an unidentified android. Though now the human had a digitized LED on his temple and a glowing armband. When Aleria approached the parking area, she placed her hand on it, which went white as the parking area shut down.

What caught Aleria's attention was the cascading of lights covering the side of a shop. It was a large banner of blue lights, a symbol of a fist rising out of a upside down triangle set in the middle. Above, she saw Markus and North standing above it proudly, then start to climb down.

Markus then jogged over to Aleria and tossed her a metal pole that extended out, a digital flag appearing with the same symbol as before set in the of it. Aleria caught the flag with her free hand, and she looked over at the gazebo Markus nodded towards. Together they walked towards it, but North stopped them, holding out a molotov to Markus.

"The only thing the humans understand is violence." North reasoned, and Markus Shook his head. "We have done enough damage." Markus replied, then nodded towards Aleria to place the flag. Aleria smirked, then tossed the tagging gun at him before sprinting towards the gazebo, climbing up with ease. From there, she stuck the flag in the middle, the digital flag waving in the cold wind.

Aleria's head then turned to the side as she heard the distant noise of police sirens blaring in the distance. She jumped down from the gazebo then went into her pocket and took out colored smoke bombs, opening the top of one and throwing it across the plaza, the bomb bellowing red smoke across the ground. Markus ran over to Aleria, "what are you doing?"

"They say the color red is for war." Aleria told as she opened another red smoke bomb and threw it. Markus made an opened hand gesture and the Assassin threw him a smoke bomb, as well as other androids that copied the actions Aleria was doing.

In the distance, Aleria saw police drones and heard the sirens have come closer, then heard the voice of Markus telling everyone to fall back to Jericho. Aleria flipped the hood of her coat over her head as she turned around and ran in the direction of all the other androids.

Turning the corner, Aleria skid to a stop as the flashing blue and red lights came as a halo effect around two police officers with their weapons drawn. Shots fired out, and androids dropped dead to the ground, causing the others to rush the police officers. North screamed out in horror as she fell to her knees next to the android that looked like her, the other androids disarming the police officers and forcing them to their knees as Markus came around the corner.

Aleria watched as Markus knelt next to North, then turn her eyes to look at the android having the two officers at gunpoint. She looked back at Markus to see him starting to walk towards the crowd, but pause to look back at Aleria and give a head gesture that made Aleria walk forward towards him.

Markus and Aleria met each other at the crowd as it split for the both of them. Aleria listed to their cries of fear, and watched as another android placed one of their guns into Markus's hand. "They killed our people Markus," the male android told, "we have to kill them."

Aleria looked back at the police officers, listening to their cries and pleas. She remembered back into her training then; a moment when she was told not to let an enemy live, no matter how much they plead and cry and try to cut a deal. But looking at these two people, she did not see an enemy in either of them.

"An eye for an eye and the world goes blind…" Aleria heard Markus mumble, breaking the memory playing in her mind. Aleria watched as Markus put the gun back into the android's hand, "we will not punish a crime with another crime." Markus then stated before walking away, leaving everyone behind and not bothering to see if they were following.

It was quiet for a moment, the police officers slumped in relief, their tears now ceasing. Aleria turned to the androids around her, "you heard him," Aleria started, taking on a commanding voice, causing the androids to look at her.

"We're not going to hurt them," Aleria plucked the gun from the android's hands, "just cuff them and let's get back to base." The androids around her swarmed as some started to leave while others stayed to watch over the officers. Two androids walked over to the officers and took their handcuffs. The officers let the androids handcuff their hands behind their back without a fight.

Aleria turned to where she last saw North and saw that she was gone, causing the Assassin to sigh. She looked back to the other androids and saw that they completed their task, "alright, let's get out of here." Aleria told, and the androids ran off to where Markus left.

The Assassin turned to leave, but then looked at the gun in her hand and then the relieved police officers watching her. Aleria tossed the gun at them, the objects clanking to the ground between them.

"Don't want to get in trouble for losing an issued gun, now do you?" Aleria smiled, then ran off, turning down the alleyway to run up a wall, but stopping short of it as she looked to see a manhole cover set to the side.

Aleria backed away from the wall and walked over to the hole in the ground. She looked up to the roofs, then moved to cover the hole and paused once more. Aleria pushed her lips together into a thin line, then placed the cover back down and jumped down into manhole before closing the opening above her.

 _*Horizon by Jaxson Gamble begins to play*_


End file.
